A Different Look at Viva Pinata's Village
by Epic Laughter
Summary: There has been many a story about the more papery inhabitants of Pinata Island, but I was always much more fond of the human Villagers, who are clearly the ones in charge. I couldn't resist making another story about them! Please read, review, and enjoy!
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: Hello, my friends! I've been working on a sequel to _The Many Journeys of the Journal _for more than a year now, and I figured it's high time I submitted it here! The same OCs that were featured in my previous story are here. This was written primarily by Tori, one of the sharers of the account, but it wouldn't be nearly as fun to read if she hadn't had the help of co-owner Lizzie. She edited most of the chapters and helped me improve! The story also gets better in later chapters, I'm fond of Chapters 9, 10, and 11 in particular! I hope you enjoy it, even if it still is a WIP at the moment!**

Chapter 1

"Okay, my boy!" Bart, the local transmorgrifiable item technician, bellowed as he placed a blackberry on a table in front of his uncertain-looking apprentice. "Keep your focus steady and you should manage to transmogrify this blackberry!"

His trainee, the usually-vivacious-but-not-when-he's-in-training Yoto, let out a drawn-out sigh, like a Taffly sat on by an Elephanilla. "Uncle Bart, you know this is going to blow up all over the place, right?" he inquired, raising an eyebrow at his uncle.

"Don't talk like that, lad!" Bart barked.

"Well, it's true!"

"Never count your Cluckles before they hatch!" Bart grabbed the top of Yoto's head and whirled it to face the blackberry. "Remember, focus is the key! You never know when your mind is going to accept your destiny as a Tinker!"

"Sure, sure, sure, fine, fine, fine, I'll try, try, try," Yoto gave up protesting. He never won anyway; Bart didn't get where he was today without being persistent.

"Good, good, good," Bart nodded over crossed arms.

Yoto fixed his gaze on the blackberry, tongue poking out of the corner of his mouth as he began to wave his hands around it. His focus was quickly interrupted, however, by a loud yell from the other room.

_A"YOTOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"_ screamed a vaguely familiar voice.

"AAAAAGH!" Yoto yelled in alarm as this time the loud noise didn't come from him. The blackberry promptly exploded with an offensive sound and splattered dark purple goop all over the table, Yoto, and Bart.

"Who in God's name-?!?!" Bart sputtered in shock as he pulled an already-stained rag from his pocket and began wiping the purple splatter from his mask.

A bathrobe-clad-and-maskless Yen threw open the door, wearing a glare that could make even the nefarious Professor Pester wet himself and run for the hills. "Yoto, I know you did-" Yen tried to growl before being interrupted.

"YEN!" Bart whipped to face him. "Why'd you have to choose a time like THIS to suddenly develop voluminous vocal cords? You caused your little brother to make YET ANOTHER mistake and you scared the living _hell_ out of-" Bart stopped abruptly and blinked twice. "…why on God's green Earth is your hair PINK, boy?!" He covered the mouth of his mask in a vain attempt to silence a snicker.

"You just _laughed,_ didn't you?!" Yen's glare intensified under his dripping and now-Galagoogoo-colored bangs. Yoto couldn't hold back any longer and let off a bout of loud laughter.

"Don't take that tone with me, lad!" Bart scolded Yen, his words barely audible over Yoto's guffaws.

"I-I didn't know if it would actually _work!"_ Yoto wiped a tear from his eye. "I never even expected your hair to turn THIS pink!"

Yen slammed his palm against his forehead. "I KNEW this was your fault!"

"What on Earth did you DO, boy?" Bart crossed his arms and fixed Yoto with a questioning gaze. Yen _was_ supposed to be the more intelligent twin after all.

"I put somethin' in his shampoo," Yoto grinned, but it quickly faded, like the color from a sick piñata. "You aren't going to hit me, are you?"

"Of course not, dyeing someone's hair pink isn't a felony!" Bart shook his head and Yoto gave a relieved sigh. Bart's eyes darted over to Yoto's older twin. "But I _will _buffet Yen if he isn't willing to put some clothes on and run a few errands in spite of his current follicular state!"

Yen's dark blue eyes widened a bit. "But-"

"No buts, boy, suck it up!" Bart stabbed an index finger at the door that led to the other room.

Yen reluctantly deprived the room of his pink-haired presence while grumbling under his breath.

"Sorry, Yen, Yoto's not 'ere," Avalon glanced up from her orchids just as Yen ambled into her garden.

"I'm not looking for Yoto today," Yen tugged his hood a little farther down his forehead in an attempt to hide his hair. "I was just wondering if you had any Gooseberries to spare…" Yen's eyes darted over to a small cluster of Gooseberry bushes in the corner of Avalon's garden. "I can pay you for them if you want…" Yen began fishing in his pockets. "Uncle Bart sent me for some and I really don't feel like dealing with Mrs. Costolot today…"

"Oi, I can empathize there," Avalon shook her head at the mention of the general store owner's name. "Sure, take all yew need, and yew don't 'ave to pay me." She squinted at Yen and planted her hands on her hips. "But yew better not expect to get free stuff from me every time yew waltz in 'ere, kid."

"Promise," Yen sauntered over to the gooseberry bushes without a thank you or a second glance and began pocketing a few of the berries.

"'Ey, why's your 'ood up?" Avalon raised a curious eyebrow at Yen as she oversaw him. "It's not raining or anything, kid."

Yen sighed and softly mumbled, "It's my hair…"

"What, did your brother shave your 'ead or something?"

"No, worse," Yen reluctantly pulled his hood down, and his now-pink hair flopped into its usual place and covered his left eye. "He put something in my shampoo…and _this_ happened…"

Avalon choked on a chuckle and Yen narrowed his eyes.

"S-sorry, Yen, it's just that your brother is such a-" Avalon's snicker-filled speech was interrupted by an even louder bout of laughter from the outskirts of her garden.

"Ah-hahahahaha-oh! Yen, what happened?! You look like a _GALAGOOGOO!"_ Seedos was leaning against a tree by the garden entrance, nearly choking with laughter. Yen's face burned underneath his mask and he quickly snapped his hood back up.

"'Is brother put something in 'is shampoo, poor kid, heheheh…" Avalon chuckled and shook her head.

"…your sympathy is overwhelming…" Yen crossed his arms and sighed as he looked away.

Seedos cleared his throat and continued his foray down the path. "Avalon, do you need any seeds today-"

"No, Seedos, please go 'ome, it's impossible to get any work done with yew criticizing my plants," Avalon pointed in the direction Seedos came from dismissively.

Seedos stomped a foot. "Oh, _excuuuuuuuse me_ for having perfectly valid opinions!" He crossed his arms and gave Avalon a Look. "Look, if it wasn't for me, your plants wouldn't be HALF as good as they are!"

"No, Seedos, my plants are good because I 'ave a sense for wot I do! It doesn't matter if _'a leaf is pointing at the wrong angle' _or any of that other nonsense yew spout every time yew come through 'ere!"

"It's NOT NONSENSE!" Seedos whined. "You just don't want to say that I know what I'm talking about because you don't want to admit you're inferior!" Seedos adjusted his glasses.

"Why, yew little…" Avalon seethed through gritted teeth.

"Thanks, Avalon…" the forgotten Yen murmured even though he was sure he wasn't heard over the bickering before he slipped out of the garden unnoticed.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"I don't know how your parents trust you to sell all of this stuff, Petula!" Leafos declared as she cast a critical eye over the merchandise in the piñata accessory store. "You have no fashion sense of your own; no wonder most piñatas these days look like disasters!" She plucked a medallion from a bargain bin and made a most unpleasant face when she saw her likeness inscribed on the 100CC accessory.

"Ohmigod, Leafos, I can't believe you just, like, waltzed in here just to insult me!" Petula stomped a foot behind the counter. "And you have no idea what you're talking about; your clothes are, like, totally _gaaaaah-ross!" _She gave Leafos a dismissive gesture with a pawed glove.

"Hmph! At least I don't parade around with a fishbowl on my head!" Leafos planted her hands on her hips and shot a sharp glare back at Petula.

"Um, DUH, it's called a 'fashion statement', and all of my friends say it looks totally cute!" Petula knocked on the side of the fishbowl as she talked, frightening its occupant. "Your clothes are just a _huuuuuuuuge _mess. On the other hand, I, like, have an awesome color beam going on."

"You mean 'color _scheme,'"_ Leafos rolled her eyes.

"What-_ever,_ Leafos," Petula waggled her hand dismissively again.

"Hmph, I bet you couldn't transfer your wonderful 'color scheme' onto someone else," Leafos turned around as if she made to leave and smirked at Petula.

"What do you mean?" Petula gave Leafos a blank stare.

"I bet you can't dress anyone up to look as…_good_ as you do. Teehee!" Leafos giggled.

"I could make anyone look, like, totally adorable! Much better than YOU could!" Petula pointed an index finger at Leafos with one hand and pounded the counter with the other.

"Oh, _really,_ now?"

"Yah." Petula had a notoriously expansive vocabulary.

"I have an idea…" Leafos walked over to the counter and leaned on it. "Let's both make over a girl from around here; whoever made over the girl who looks better wins!"

"OH, you are SOOOOOO on!" A smirk crossed Petula's lips. "Dibs on that teeny girl in the giant suit thingy!"

"…that's Maxime…you don't even know her name and you expect her to agree to this?" Leafos raised an eyebrow at Petula.

"Yah, I do, I can be VERY pervasive, Leafos."

"I think you mean _'persuasive…'"_ Leafos rolled her eyes yet again. "But," She leaned forward and leaned her head on a fist, "you forfeit if you can't get her to agree!"

"What-_ever."_

"I'll take Leena. She has difficulty saying 'no' to anything…and God knows there's room for improvement with _her _looks…" Leafos shook her head. She made eye contact with Petula and stuck out a gloved hand. "May the most fashionable woman win!"

Petula grasped Leafos' hand in her own in a brief handshake. "Oh, it is, like, SOOOOOO on!"

"…and if you dig a little hole like this and put the seed into it, it grows twice as fast!" Seedos explained with a beaming mask as he tenderly pushed the dirt back over a little opening in the ground with Leena's spade before handing it back to her. She smiled back at him, her face turning a shade of red that usually isn't biologically possible as she watered the small sprout that had sprung up from the ground without taking her wide eyes off Seedos.

"GAH, Leena, you're overwatering it, you're overwatering it!" Seedos' eyes widened and Leena quickly yanked the watering can back up.

"Oh…sorry!" Leena apologized as she dropped both her watering can and spade onto the ground.

"No problem, just don't do it again…plants don't like being overwatered too much, you know…" Seedos scolded absentmindedly as he fished through one of the pockets of his backpack.

"I'm still…er…sort of new at this-" Leena looked down at her feet.

"I said 'no problem,'" Seedos pulled a bluebell seed and a bullrush seed out of his backpack and offered them to Leena. "Here, just do what I showed you with these guys and they should grow up well!"

Leena smiled and took the seeds from him, blushing when their hands made contact for a brief moment.

After a short silence, Seedos cheerfully said "…well, see you soon," and bumbled towards the path to the Village.

"W-wait! Where are you, um, going?" Leena turned around and called after him.

Seedos looked over his shoulder. "My work here is done, Leena, you know I can't loll around in one place for too long!" He gave a quick wave and resumed rambling towards the Village.

He passed Leafos on his trek and she smirked patronizingly at him.

"Hello, Seedos, what were you-" she began to prattle, but Seedos held up a hand to silence her.

"Don't talk to me," he said without stopping.

"Oh, _excuuuuuuuse me,_ little brother, but I was just wondering-"

"That counts as talking!" Seedos retorted without breaking his clumsy stride.

"Humph," Leafos shook her head, she'd have to find out what he was doing hanging around Leena's garden later. She turned to a perplexed-looking Leena and painted on a plastic grin, after all, she was here on business.

"Leena! How are you today?" Leafos lilted as she made her way into the garden, suppressing a look of disgust as she quickly glanced around the garden.

"Um…I've been better…" Leena sighed as she looked at the seeds in her hand.

"I was hoping to ask you something…can you do me a bit of a favor?" Leafos gave Leena a fake warm smile.

"What do you need?" Leena tore her gaze away from the seeds and reluctantly made eye contact with Leafos.

"I sort of made a little bet with Petula…" Leafos scratched her head. "We're trying to see who has the best fashion sense by giving makeovers to a couple people and I was wondering…if you'd be my project!" Leafos grinned broadly and motioned towards the highly confused girl, as if Leafos was excited for her.

"I don't really…er…want to be a part of something like that…sorry, Leafos…" Leena turned her attention back to the seeds in the palm of her hand and a happy smile flickered across her face.

Leafos frowned. "Are you _positive?"_

Leena bit her lip and nodded and did all she could to avoid eye contact with Leafos.

Leafos let out a long, drawn-out sigh. "Oh, dear, if only you'd agree, I'm sure _my (repulsive) little brother_ would look at you twice if I made you over!" Leafos tried her hardest to look honest, but she couldn't stop a smirk from tugging at the corners of her lips. She knew that even _mentioning_ her detested little brother would make Leena her mindless slave.

Leena looked up, her eyes wide as (much to Leafos' delight) she processed what had just been said. "Um…all right, Leafos, I'll let you try." She smiled slightly at the older girl as she lovingly pocketed the seeds she had been ogling over.

"GOOD!" Leafos lit up and put her arm around Leena, ushering her forcefully towards her (Leafos') house. "We better get started…no offense, but you've got a LOOOONG way to go!"


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

A rather smallish girl in an alarmingly (to say the least) large and colorful bird suit struggled to get through the door to Paper Pets. Petula twitched out of her afternoon nap at the counter and snapped her head up, trying to make it look as if she wasn't sleeping on the job, even though everyone knew that was her favorite way to pass her work hours.

When Petula saw the person at the door, she gave a catty grin and sprang to her feet. "Ooooh, if it isn't, like, Maylin! Just the person I wanted to see!"

"'Maylin?' It's –ugh- _Maxime…"_ Maxime said as she finally managed to squeeze her bulky costume through the entrance.

"What_-ever,"_ Petula rolled her eyes with her hands on her hips, but quickly smacked a smile back on when she realized what her goal was. "So, like, how can I help you and stuff?"

"Er, sure. Do you have a Trussle Tricorn in an extra extra extra extra large? Big enough to fit a Limeocerous?" Maxime stretched her arms out as far as she could manage. "I need it for The P-Factor this weekend…"

"Yes, I do, but I, like, have a better idea!" Petula darted out from behind the counter and ran over to Maxime and paced around the hapless girl like a Kittyfloss stalking a very, very large Mousemallow. "What would you say if I told you I could, like, make you gorgeous and stuff?"

"…I'd say 'no thank you, sell me the Trussle Tricorn so I can leave,'" Maxime gave Petula a blank stare.

"Oh, come ON, Mackenzie!" Petula daintily stomped a foot.

"It's 'Maxime.'"

"What-_EVER!_ Come on, you HAVE to want to be gorgeous, I mean, like, LOOK at yourself!" Petula gestured to one of the mirrors on the store walls. "You are in DIRE need of a makeover and stuff!"

"I don't care whether people think I look good or not, you get respect if you look tall and strong like I do!" Maxime gestured to herself.

"Um…I don't think it's respect, I think they're just, like, dumbstruck by how idiotic you look," Petula blinked.

"What."

"And you're, like, not gonna impress any guys looking like you do!" Petula cocked her head to the side, a little water splashing out of the fishbowl on top of her mask and onto the floor. The unfortunate inhabitant of the bowl darted to the opposite side to try and steady his tilted domicile.

"I don't even _like_ any boys," Maxime rolled her eyes. "Look, can I just have that hat? I'll pay you extra if you leave me alone."

But Petula showed no signs of leaving poor Maxime be. "Okay, fine, I'm going to be, like, honest and stuff. I made a bet with that Leafos girl, and we both have to make over someone and whoever winds up with the better result, like, wins," Petula gave a broad, innocent grin and put her hands behind her back. "So, like, come oooooooon! Help a girl out!"

Maxime just gave Petula a flat look.

Petula let out a loud groan. "…I'll give you that hat for free if you help me out."

"That works," Maxime sighed, feeling like this wasn't worth the trouble and Petula squealed loudly. She grabbed the arm of Maxime's costume and dragged her towards the back room.

"You're not gonna be sorry, Maureen!" Petula giggled. "Heeheehee, I, like, have this in the BAG!"

"…and that should do it!" Leafos not-so-gently pushed Leena in front of a mirror. "Heh heh heh…just wait until Petula-er, I mean _Seedos_ sees you!"

Leena turned to the side and twirled slowly, attempting to observe herself from all angles. She was quite frankly surprised at how good of a job Leafos had done with her clothes…and she couldn't help but wonder if Seedos would notice. Maybe, with this new blouse and skirt… and heels and _maybe even_ her straightened hair… Seedos might give her a second glance! Leena smiled at her reflection in spite of herself.

"Wow…Leafos…I'm sorry I, er…hesitated…" Leena fiddled with her newly manicured hands. "But…er…you know how I am, and-"

"No problem, you did me a favor by me doing _you_ a favor!" Leafos grinned broadly, sure that her victory in the bet was certain. "Now, you better be getting home now, it's kind of late, and you need your beauty sleep if you're going to knock everyone dead tomorrow, right?"

"Um…s-sure!" Leena nodded and headed for the door, pausing once her hand was on the knob. "Thanks again, Leafos…"

"Don't mention it!" Leafos smiled until Leena was outside and then her smile was promptly dashed to pieces on the floor. "Eugh, I thought she'd NEVER leave. Why'd I have to pick the Dither Queen as my project…?" Leafos griped to herself as she rubbed her temples.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

The Next Morning

"WHOA, Leena!" Yoto exclaimed as he hoisted himself over a fence into Leena's garden. He darted over to her and made a show of looking her up and down. "When did you get decent taste in clothes?!"

"Well-" Leena blushed a bit, unused to the attention, and twirled a lock of her hair around her finger, but Yoto quickly interrupted while wearing his trademark smirk.

"OHHHH, I totally get it!" Yoto began circling poor Leena like a hungry Vulchurro. "This is all a ploy to get Seedmour's attention, am I right?"

"Um-"

Yoto was on a roll. "Oh, man, I cannot WAIT to see the look on his mask when he gets a load of _you!"_ He eyed the swamp with an alarmingly sinister-looking grin. "In fact…"

"Oh, no! Yoto, please don't wake him up!" Leena begged.

"Come on, what's he going to do? Bite my head off?" Yoto snickered as it was common knowledge that Seedos was about as threatening as a sick Taffly.

"Maybe…" Leena directed her attention down to her feet.

"What."

"Seedos' blood type is AB…you know…" Leena began fiddling with her hands.

"So?" Yoto cocked his head and blinked at Leena.

"I heard…well…that's Mrs. Costolot's blood type too…" Leena looked up at Yoto, her eyes pleading.

"YIKES!" Yoto's eyes widened and he sprung back.

"So, you're not going to wake him up then?" Leena smiled gratefully.

"Of course I am! He's half my size; he couldn't hurt me even if he was on a psychotic rampage!" Yoto put his hands on his hips and beamed broadly. "Haha, this'll be hilarious!"

Leena's grateful smile faded as quickly as it had come. "Oh, Yoto…I wouldn't-"

_"YOU_ wouldn't, which is exactly why _I_ would! Toodles!" Yoto waved like a palm tree in a hurricane before jauntily taking off towards the swamp's bridge.

Since Seedos never bothered to install a lock on his door, Yoto had no problem simply throwing the door open and striding right into Seedos' house. Even though if he _had_ installed a lock Yoto would still have no qualms with bursting in at inopportune moments.

"SEEDOS! RISE AND SHINE! YOU HAVE _GOT_ TO GET A LOAD OF LEENA!" Yoto yelled while leaning against the doorframe, his eyes on Seedos' bedroom door.

The door promptly exploded open, revealing a rather angry looking Seedos. His hair was sleep mussed and his glasses were askew, as if he had just woken up.

Yoto made a face. "Eew, Seedos, where's your mask?!?"

"Oh, I'm SO sorry, Yoto, I didn't have time to put it on because I had to tell someone who _rudely awakened_ me to get themselves out of my house," Seedos glared at Yoto from under blue brows, sleep still dragging at his voice despite his angry tone.

"Oh, did someone else break in too?" Yoto asked.

"……" Seedos' abnormally large eyes rolled up to the ceiling. "Dear God, please give me strength, so not to hurt this stupid, stupid, stupid person."

"Come _on,_ Four Eyes, stop talking to the air and make yourself decent, you HAVE to see Leena-" Yoto frantically gestured at Seedos' front door.

"If I don't see her, will I die?" Seedos squinted at Yoto and pushed his glasses farther up his nose with a forefinger.

"Duh, of course not, stupid-" Yoto snickered.

"Then _leave."_ It was Seedos' turn to stab a finger at the front door.

"Only if you leave _with_ me!" Yoto was firmly planted in the spot he was standing.

"Psh, _FINE._ I'm never going to get back to sleep anyway, what's the point?" Seedos disappeared back into his bedroom, slamming the door behind him. He re-emerged in his usual garb a few moments later, still in the process of clumsily tying his red pouch around his waist.

"YAY, come on, Four Eyes, let's go!" Yoto ran over to Seedos and put his arm around him, ushering him at a high speed to the door.

"Don't touch me, you idiot," Seedos attempted to swat Yoto's arm off of him, but Yoto was far too focused on getting Seedos out of the house to be bothered.

Leena looked up from watering a bluebell when she heard people talking from the direction of the swamp. An unrestrained grin crept across her face when she saw Seedos, every fiber of her being hoping that he'd notice the way she looked.

Sadly Seedos' mind was focused on seething; he stayed up late every night doing his rounds and became as ornery as a Sour Macaraccoon with a toothache when the little sleep he did get was disturbed. Also, anyone would be exceedingly grumpy being rudely woken by a shouting Yoto.

Yoto entered the garden and cheekily winked at Leena and excitedly gestured towards Seedos. Seedos just yawned and automatically started rooting through his backpack. Yoto's happy expression went elsewhere as he gritted his teeth, elbowed Seedos, and was nearly instantly on the receiving end of a death glare.

Seedos sleepily ambled over to Leena and held out his palm. "Here, Leena…take these three seeds. I can't stick around for long because _SOMEBODY-"_-Seedos glowered over his shoulder at an innocently-grinning Yoto for a moment- "-rudely awoke me, so I'm exhausted. I need to take a walk to wake myself up…" He yawned again for effect.

"Oh, er…thank you, Seedos…" Leena tried her hardest to hide the disappointment in her voice as she took the seeds from him. Unfortunately Seedos' mind was on getting himself out of Yoto's sight so he didn't notice the change in Leena's disposition.

He gave her a quick nod before taking off towards the Village road, making sure to shoot Yoto yet another deathglare on his way.

Leena let out an anguished sigh and gazed at the trio of seeds in her palm as if they were made out of some precious substance. Yoto treaded to her side and patted her back with an open palm.

"Don't worry, Leena, soon Seedos will realize that you're his only chance of getting any…" he said in what he believed was a comforting manner.

"Getting any what…?" Leena asked her voice catching as she looked up at Yoto with wide, innocent eyes.

"Er…love. Yes, yes, love. Love is what I meant," Yoto grinned down at her, realizing that now probably wasn't the best time to make a vulgar joke.

Leena looked down at her feet yet again as if they were exceedingly interesting.

"Come _on, _Lee! Keep your head up!" Yoto tilted Leena's chin up to face him. "He's exhausted; pay him a visit a little later after he's fully awake! He's BOUND to notice then, you're an absolute knockout!"

"Um…really? You mean it?" Leena's eyes sparkled.

"Cross my heart, hope to die, stick a needle in my eye; swear on my parents' graves!" Yoto beamed at the younger girl and gallantly planted his hands on his hips.

"Don't take this the wrong way…but…um…I never expected you to cheer me up about something like this…you always make fun of me for…er…_liking_ Seedos…" Leena's cheeks turned pink and she avoided Yoto's unnervingly delighted countenance.

"Oh, you know how I am!" Yoto gave Leena a hearty slap on the back. "I'm just kidding; don't take any of it to heart!"

"Oh, really?"

"Yeah, really!" Yoto ruffled Leena's hair before heading towards the frankly rubbish Village road. "Don't forget to swing by his house later!"

"I won't!" Leena managed to smile and waved goodbye to Yoto; he gave her a quick salute before he disappeared from her sight.

"Haha, she totally bought the 'nice Yoto' act!" Yoto snickered to himself as he strolled towards the Village. "I couldn't let her give up on Seedos, her desperation is comedy _gold!"_


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

"NO, Leafos, I, like, TOTALLY won!" Petula slammed her fist down on Paper Pets' shiny and spotless counter and quickly regretted it, drawing her smarting hand back with a wounded hiss.

"Um, Petula, have you _seen_ Leena? She looks eighty times better than Maxime does," Leafos crossed her arms and rolled her eyes, smirking a little tiny bit as she knew who was the true winner.

"HMPH, maybe in YOUR opinion! She still looks, like, so gawky. Mirabelle looks, like, SO totally cute!" Petula beamed triumphantly and waved her hands around. "Haven't you, like, seen what I've done with her hair?! It's _totally_ so much better than what it used to be."

"Ugh, why didn't we pick a judge or something?" Leafos beat a gloved hand against the abnormally elongated forehead of her mask. "Okay, Petula, new set of rules."

"What?!"

"You heard me. Whoever made over the girl who goes back to her old wardrobe first _loses."_

"Hmph, fine by me, I, like, have Mahogany's costume in the back, anyway," Petula smirked triumphantly and gestured impishly behind her. "She won't be going back to _that_ anytime soon!"

Just then the bell attached to the store's door jingled, and Petula instantly went into Shopkeeper Mode. An impossibly charming grin oozed across her face and she straightened to attention, ready to leap forward and get whoever had just entered out as fast as possible.

"Welcome, to, like, Paper Pets and stuff; how can I help-" Petula began with her horribly fake grin.

"Petula, where did you put my costume? I want it back," The person who entered the store was none other than petite Maxime, who was tapping her dainty foot impatiently with her hands on her hips.

Leafos smirked at Petula and Petula fumed.

"WHAT?! No way, Mallory! I am not losing to _her!"_ Petula gestured irritably at Leafos.

"Oh, you're the one that started all of this, aren't you?" Maxime gave Leafos a Look and Leafos forgot for a moment that she was the same size as a well-fertilized poppy. "Thanks a lot; it's been nothing but stress for me."

Leafos clicked her tongue and casually turned away from Maxime, eager to get back to haranguing Petula. It would be twice as fun to have two people ganging up on that obnoxiously catty shopkeeper.

Maxime faced Petula again, not one to give up so easily. "Look, I absolutely hate walking around without my costume. I'm not going to be able to really show off at P-Factor if I don't wear it."

"But you'll look, like, so _dumb!"_

"I don't give a care, now _where is it?"_ Maxime grew increasing irritated each time she asked for her costume.

The little bell on the door cheerfully chimed again. "Miss Petula, Ari needs another bow, poor little girl's old one is getting really worn out-" came a businesslike voice from the doorway.

"EEEEEEE!" Petula forgot all about everyone else in the room and let out a loud squeal- Leafos and Maxime were both quite surprised the windows didn't shatter. Whoever had built the shop knew what they were doing. "Eddiekins! And OMIGAWD, you brought your Geckie with you!"

Eddie stood blinking in the doorway for a moment before letting out a sigh as he casually flipped his violet hair out of his eyes. He really detested visiting the woman, but she owned the only accessory store in the general area and he couldn't be downright rude to her. He _did_ have a reputation to uphold. "Look, Miss Petula, I don't have time for chatter, I need to-"

Maxime glanced over her shoulder to see what the fuss was about and Eddie's jaw promptly dropped to the floor when she made eye contact with him. He stood gaping for a few moments until the Geckie resting on his shoulder nudged him. He quickly gathered up his composure and went into Prince Charming Mode.

"And who-" Eddie put on as enchanting as a grin as he could manage after he retrieved his jaw from the floor. "-might you be, Miss?"

Leafos frantically scribbled down mental notes as Maxime raised an eyebrow, somewhat wary of the transformation Eddie had undergone. Petula's brain slowly began registering the situation.

"Oh, hush, Lizard, you know who I am," Maxime crossed her arms and sneered down her diminutive nose at him.

"MAXIME?!" Eddie staggered back with his Geckie hanging on for dear life, clutching his heart. "W-where's your bird suit?"

"I'm trying to get it back from Petula, but she's absolutely refusing," Maxime scowled a bit in Petula's general direction.

_**"DON'T!"**_ Eddie shouted, but he quickly regained his self-control. "Er, I mean, you look just fine without it…_more_ than fine, actually." His eyes glittered a bit in admiration.

"Oh, please," Maxime rolled her eyes and turned away from Eddie with a sniff.

Petula knew she had to intervene; she rummaged around in a bin under the counter and quickly produced the desired item. "Er…Eddiekins…here's, like, the bow you wanted for Ari and stuff!" Petula ran out from behind the counter and shoved the bow into Eddie's hand. "I'll let you have it for _free!"_ Petula alternated between grinning at Eddie and giving Maxime nervous glances.

"Yes, thanks Petula," Eddie said curtly, not taking his eyes off of Maxime. "Soooo, you're still entering P-Factor, right? No sudden changes of plans, no last-minute cancellations, no family emergencies, no tragic Piñata loss?"

"Oh, I like, can't make it this week, my 'rents need me to-" Petula began, delighted that Eddie was actually concerned but he cut her off.

"I wasn't talking to you, Miss Petula; I was talking to _Maxime,"_ Eddie said Maxime's name as if it were the most beautiful word in the English language, which, frankly, made Maxime want to heave.

"Yes, Eddie, I'm still entering," Maxime's voice had a distinctly dismissive tone to it. Luckily for her, Eddie was not slow to pick up hints.

"That's great to hear!" Eddie gave yet another gleaming-with-charm grin backed with a quick wink before starting for the door. "I'll hopefully see you then, gorgeous!"

Petula's facial expression changed to one of terror after Eddie left the shop. Before he deprived the poor building of his Eddie-tastic presence, _he actually_ _blew Maxime a kiss. __And_ he made a big deal about it.

"Ugh, can you _believe_ that stupid fop?" Maxime shook her head, exceedingly relieved that the room was devoid of purple hair. "All the more reason to want my costume back."

"All the more reason to, like, wanna GIVE it back!" Petula started for the back room, but Leafos reached over the counter and grabbed onto Petula's wrist.

"Uh-uh-uh, Petula," Leafos said under her breath so Maxime couldn't hear, waggling the index finger of her free hand. "Remember, if you give that costume back, _I win." _She didn't make any move to hide the triumphant grin she had donned.

Petula paused for quite a while before finally swatting Leafos' hand off of her wrist and whirled around in a huff. "NO, Marietta, I will NOT give you your costume back! I refuse to lose to a _loser_ like Leafos!" Petula stomped a foot and glared at her leaf-masked adversary.

Maxime's patience had become ridiculously small. "…Fine. But you can bet your mask that I'll be back here tomorrow in case you change your mind," She scowled before sweeping towards the door.

"YOU BETTER KEEP YOUR PAWS OFF MY EDDIEKINS!" Petula yelled in a hurt tone from the counter. "I saw him first, you know! I like, called dibs!"

"You can have him, I don't want him," Maxime rolled her eyes with her hand poised above the door handle.

"Why not?!?! He's sooooo cute! What's _wrong_ with you, Marlow?!" Petula planted a fist on her left hip and gave Maxime a Look.

Maxime just shook her head, eager to get out of the tiny shop as soon as possible. "I don't even know where to _begin_ correcting you…so I won't even bother," she stated before blissfully departing.

"Oh my goodness, this is going to make SUCH an amazing story! You're part of a _vicious love triangle,_ Petula!" Leafos had eagerly begun psychologically reviewing the detailed mental notes she took as she observed the situation. "Torn between beating me in a bet and the attention of one of the most gorgeous boys on the Island…oh dear, you've got it tough!"

"Don't, like, REMIND me!" Petula griped, drooping until she slumped over onto the counter.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Later that afternoon, Leena stumbled towards the swamp, her heart pumping a pinometer a second. She had decided to heed Yoto's advice and pay Seedos a visit, hoping in vain that he'd notice how she looked.

Leena made her way across the bridge into the bog, and gingerly approached Seedos' house. She raised a fist and knocked a little reluctantly on his front door.

No answer.

She knocked again, a little louder this time.

Still no response.

Leena sighed and absentmindedly twirled a rebellious lock of hair. _He should be home by now; he always comes home around this time!_ she thought.

Then she remembered that Seedos never bothered to install a lock on his door. You don't really have the best memory when your head gets bashed with shovels more than Sour Piñatas do.

But it'd be rude to just barge in, no matter how curious she was to get a quick peek at the inside of Seedos' house!

"A…a quick little look won't hurt…" Leena mumbled to herself, reaching for the door in spite of her doubts. She pushed it open a bit before she could change her mind and looked inside.

She gasped a little louder then she should have at what she saw.

Seedos was standing at a counter, grumbling to himself as he sloppily mixed something thick in a bowl. His glasses were cracked quite a bit and he was squinting in a pathetic attempt to see through them and constantly adjusting them. Lying on the counter in front of him was his mask, which was currently splintered in several uneven pieces.

His mask was on the counter.

Not on his face.

_SEEDOSWASN'TWEARINGHISMASK._

Now, if Leena hadn't gasped, she could have easily slipped away and never spoken again of what she had seen. But when she gasped, Seedos' head snapped in her direction and their eyes met.

He looked somewhat like how Leena had expected him to; his head was exceedingly round and his face was dominated by his massive, violet eyes. He had a pathetic little nose, as if whoever had made it ran out of material before they finished and tried to make up for it by giving it a liberal dusting of tiny freckles. Needless to say, Leena found him oddly adorable.

After an uncomfortably long silence, Seedos finally managed to sputter: "L-LEENA?!?! WHERE DID YOU COME FROM?!?!" He dropped the bowl and covered his mouth and nose with his hands, his eyes alarmingly wide, even for him.

Leena was too shocked and dumbfounded to speak, all she managed to say was: "Ehhh…" She was always so eloquent.

"W-why didn't you tell me you were here?!" Seedos' words were a bit muffled by his hands.

"I…I knocked…but…you didn't-"

"And why are you staring at me like that?!" Seedos was more than a bit self-conscious at the moment because of the fact that being seen barefaced is about as bad as being sighted in your underwear.

"Oh…" Leena averted her eyes and fiddled with the hem of her skirt. "It's just…"

"Just _what?"_

"I've never seen…your real face before…"

Seedos reluctantly let his hands drop to his sides when he saw that Leena turned away. "Well, you weren't _supposed_ to! I don't know if you know this because you're not from around here, but being seen without your mask-" Seedos choked a little and shook his head, blushing a bit under his pale freckles. "Well…it's not good!"

"I'm sorry, Seedos…" Leena murmured, still not making eye contact.

"I-It's fine, you didn't know…now leave me be, I need to finish mending my mask…" Seedos picked up the bowl again and resumed mixing it, still barely able to see through his cracked glasses. "Even though I'm _blind…"_

Leena started for the door, but hesitated when she heard Seedos mumble that last remark. "Um…Seedos?"

"Hm?" Seedos asked without looking up from his laughable attempt to fix his mask.

"Do you…want me to help you? I mean…it's okay if you don't…but your glasses are cracked and it would take a while and I want you to be able to get back to your job…" Leena turned around and looked down at her hands, twiddling with her fingers as a blush creeped across her cheeks. "I…I promise I won't look at your face…"

Seedos was a little taken off guard by this request, the grumpy side of him was awfully tempted to snap, "No, I can do it on my own, thank you very much" but the intelligent side of him knew very well that he couldn't… at least not within a reasonable time frame, anyway.

In the end, his intelligent side won and he reluctantly said "…okay."

Leena lit up and rushed to Seedos' side, taking extra care not to look at his face despite her intense desire to.

"Now, the pieces aren't too small, so I think you can easily tell what goes where," Seedos vaguely gestured to his broken mask. _God knows you stare at me enough to know the exact structure of my mask…_ he had to struggle to resist adding to his statement.

Leena nodded, and the two worked in a fairly awkward silence for quite a while. The entire time Leena wanted to summon the courage to turn her head and see Seedos' face one more time, and Seedos was praying that Leena had the self-control not to look over.

Seedos finally broke the silence after several minutes of discomfiture with "…hey, Leena, can I ask you a question?"

"Hm?" Leena started to turn towards him but then she remembered he didn't have his mask on and quickly snapped her head around to avert her eyes.

"…why did you change the way you dress?" Seedos turned to look at her despite her trying her hardest to look away.

"Well…I…um…er…" Leena couldn't tell him the actual reason, but she couldn't totally lie to him… "You see…um…Leafos…"

Seedos sighed.

"She…well…made a bet or something with Petula…and so Leafos had to give me a makeover for some reason…" Leena said as she turned her attention back to fixing the broken mask. "Why…why do you ask?" Leena felt her heart flutter a little. Seedos had actually noticed the-

"Well, I thought you were fine before," Seedos uncomfortably crossed his skinny arms.

"W-what?" Leena froze in the middle of the process of gluing the last two pieces together, her face hot.

"D-don't take that the wrong way now!" Seedos wrung his hands when he saw Leena's expression. "I just don't think what you're wearing now suits you, that's all…you should have known better than to have trusted my sister."

"…you're right, Seedos…" Leena exhaled slowly, in spite of the fact that Seedos' opinion should have barely mattered, he wasn't exactly known for his fashion sense; according to him there was no problem mixing blue and orange together. "I shouldn't have let Leafos use me as her pawn…"

"That wasn't what I was trying to say, but that works too…" Seedos shrugged.

"A-anyway…we're almost done…" Leena nervously finished gluing the last two pieces of Seedos' mask together. "T-there we go…" She stuttered as she wiped the extra paste from her hands.

Leena then remembered that Seedos' glasses were just a little bit cracked. "Oh…Seedos…your glasses…"

"Eh, I've got a spare pair somewhere…I just couldn't find them earlier…" Seedos rubbed his temples. "It's quite difficult looking for something when you have head wounds…"

"Head wounds?"

"Here, look…" Seedos covered his mouth and nose with one hand again and Leena reluctantly turned to him. Seedos pointed to his alarmingly blue and purple forehead with his free hand.

Leena's eyes widened in pity for Seedos. How could she have not noticed that when she walked in? "Um…what happened…?"

"Pfft, some gardeners think they can get even more free seeds out of me if they hit me with their shovels. I went to a particularly hostile person's garden earlier…how else do you think my mask broke so badly?" Seedos murmured from behind his hand.

"Oh, Seedos, that must be so-"

"Don't worry, Leena, I have a hard head," Seedos knocked on the side of his skull with his free hand good-naturedly. "And the seeds will have their revenge, anyway…" Seedos' tone darkened significantly as he smirked behind one hand and lovingly patted the red pouch around his waist with the other. "Let's see if that gardener tries to attack me again once these guys are through with them…"

Another silence.

"…anyhoo, the glue should be dry by now!" Seedos carefully removed his spectacles and Leena flushed red when his face was once again in her full view. Seedos picked up his mask, but paused before he put it into place, catching Leena's eye and giving her a Look.

"I thought you said you wouldn't look at my face!" he grumbled accusingly.

"Oh, ah, I'm sorry, Seedos, I just-" Leena dithered away and Seedos shook his head and chuckled dryly.

"That's all right, Leena…" he smiled a bit at her as he slid his mask into place, the mask instantly adopting his expression. "Apology accepted…just don't let it happen again."


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

"Oh, MAN, you should have seen your face when you ran into the room, Yen! It was PRICELESS!" Yoto laughed hysterically as he and his rather irritated older twin meandered up the path through the woods to the Village.

"Yoto, can't you let sleeping Barkbarks lie…?" Yen shook his pink head and sighed a little as he tried yet again to outwalk Yoto.

"What sleeping Barkbark? Your hair is still pink, isn't it?" Yoto kept up and gestured to his brother's hair with a grin. "I'm never going to let the matter drop! Don't worry, Yen, someday you'll look back on this and laugh!"

"I highly doubt that…"

"Oh, yeah, I forgot, it's biologically impossible for you to laugh…" Yoto shrugged with a "what-can-ya-do?" expression. He quickly re-donned his trademark grin as he flicked a lock of his brother's hair. "I'm surprised you don't have Galagoogoos following you around!"

Right after Yoto said that, the two boys heard a loud rustling in the surrounding foliage and they both stopped in their tracks.

"Did you hear that…?" Yen asked, looking around warily.

"Yeah, it sounded like something's lurking about…OH, Yen, it might be something _biiiiiiig…"_ Yoto smirked at his brother as he brought up Yen's irrational fear of large piñatas.

"D-don't be an idiot, Yoto, it was probably the wind…" Yen disagreed with his younger twin, as par usual, and as much as he wanted to deny it he felt a little tiny bit nervous.

The rustling came again, a bit louder and closer this time.

"Nope, it's totally a Sarsgorilla coming to eat you," Yoto said with a straight face while looking around for the source of the rustling.

He didn't have to look for too long. After one last sound of disturbed greenery, a pink blur leapt out of a tree and onto a wide-eyed Yen, who promptly gave a short gasp and took several steps back in shock.

"WHAT THE HELL?!?!" Yoto whipped around to face his equally shocked brother. Whatever had leapt out of the tree had attached itself to Yen's head, of which it matched quite well.

"Yoto," Yen looked straight at his doppelganger, his body tensed and still. "What. Is. On. My. Head."

Yoto blinked at the creature for a few seconds before bursting into terrible laughter.

_"YOTO,"_ Yen glared at his brother, his tone quickly growing impatient.

"Okay, okay, okay!" Yoto caught his breath, but his words were still interrupted by a snicker or two. "Heheh…there's a Galagoogoo on your head…AND IT TOTALLY MATCHES YOUR HAIR!" Yoto erupted into laughter again.

"W…what?" Yen blinked and the Galagoogoo climbed off of his head and settled on his shoulder. Yen turned his head and caught its eye. It gave an overly affectionate whistle in approval. Yen then looked over at his hysterical twin, who was still doubled over in laughter. "Yoto…aren't these things supposed to be skittish and not come around humans much…?"

"BWAHAHA, YOU MATCH THE GALA-wait, huh?" Yoto cut off his laughter and cocked his head to the side.

"I_ said,_ 'aren't Galagoogoos supposed to be scared of humans?'" Yen crossed his arms as the Galagoogoo perched on top of his head again.

"Pfft, I have no ungodly idea," Yoto shrugged. "But that one sure isn't!"

"I can't let this thing stay with me, the last thing I need is more people laughing at me," Yen attempted to pluck it off his head but the Galagoogoo had a death grip on his hair. "I need to figure out how to get rid of it…"

"Well, then ask an expert! I don't know a goddamned thing about piñatas who don't have impersonation skills!" Yoto was, of course, referring to his infamous Parrybo, who taught his larynx how to do amazing feats.

"Do we _know_ any experts?" Yen managed to pry the Galagoogoo off his head and gingerly held it in the crook of his folded arms. The Galagoogoo yawned and settled into its new spot.

Yoto looked at his brother blankly for a moment as he tried to pull a name of a piñata expert from his hollow head. He lit up after a few moments and Yen looked at him expectantly.

"You know what, Yen? You're smart. I'm dumb. You can figure this one out by yourself. Brain adventure!" Yoto tapped a finger on the side of his cranium as he talked with a broad grin.

"Wait, what-"

Yoto started to take off down the path after a quick wave. "Good luck, and all that!"

"Wait, where do you think you're going?!?!" Yen held the now-dead-asleep Galagoogoo up. "You can't leave me alone with this!"

"Watch me!" Yoto laughed as he continued speeding down the path.

"Hey-!" Yen sighed, knowing that it was no use trying to reason with his tenacious brother. He looked down at the Galagoogoo as _he _tried to pull a name of a piñata expert out of his not-so-hollow head. "…of course," Yen snapped his eyes back up as he made a realization. He began walking briskly up the path to the Village. "I sure hope she's in…"

Yen gingerly looked through the small window on the door to Gretchen Fetchem's shop, checking to make sure that she didn't have any piñatas that were bigger than him waiting to go to customers. He gave a short relieved sigh when he saw that there weren't any at the moment and gently pushed the door open.

"…Miss Fetchem…?" Yen murmured as he looked around the room. A tall dark-haired woman with an intimidating mask came out of the back room, stepping back a bit when she saw Yen.

"…so he really _did_ dye your hair…" Gretchen blinked at Yen for a moment before turning businesslike. "What are you doing here, kid? I doubt you have any business here and I have a job I need to attend to."

"No, I just wanted to ask you something…" Yen pointed to the Galagoogoo, who had woken up and migrated back to the top of his head on his way back to the Village. "This piñata…it showed up out of nowhere…and it won't leave me alone. I thought that Galagoogoos were supposed to be-"

"Afraid of humans," Gretchen finished with a quick nod.

"Yes, and I wanted to know why it's so attached to _me,_ of all people."

Gretchen responded by giving Yen a blank look.

"…what?" Yen blinked right back at her.

"…kid, it's obvious why that thing's following you around. She _likes _you," Gretchen shook her head.

"Huh."

"She. Likes. You. Don't make me have to sing you a song, Yoa," Gretchen crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes. "Galagoogoos are more egotistical then they might seem. Your…_hair_ probably reminds her of herself."

"…that's all there is to it?" Yen couldn't really fathom what he was hearing.

"Yes. That's it. Now please leave me be, I have _work_ to do," Gretchen grabbed a hefty bag off of the counter and hiked it over her shoulder. "And could you do me a favor?"

"What's that?" Yen asked on his way to the exit.

"Tell that ginger doppelganger of yours that the next time he lets the piñatas I keep in the back for customers out he's going to find himself pursued by a colony of S'morepions."


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Yoto hurried down the road to Leena's garden for his second daily teasing. Leena was restlessly pacing around, her eyes on her Alert system which rested in her palm. Seedos was also in the garden, bent on one knee looking at what appeared to be an ailing Shellybean, the brow of his mask furrowed.

Yoto, being an idiot, didn't really assess the situation at hand. Instead he took notice of Leena's attire before anything else.

"HEY, Lee, why are you wearing your old clothes?!" Yoto inquired loudly as he entered the garden.

Both Leena and Seedos ignored him, much to Yoto's irritation.

"Did you get it to work yet?" Seedos asked, averting his eyes away from the Shellybean for a brief moment to look at the still-worriedly-pacing Leena.

Leena punched a few more buttons before shaking her head with a sigh. "Still nothing! Oh my, I hope that…" Leena cast a worried glance at the eastern side of her garden.

"I hope that too," Seedos shook his head and cast his eyes in that direction too.

Yoto cleared his throat loudly and Seedos glared at him.

"Yoto, go away, you're the second to last person we want to see right now," Seedos waved him off rudely.

"What the hell's going on? Usually you two are happy to see lovable old me!" Yoto rested a hand on his chest.

"No, we never are-" Seedos rolled his eyes as Leena cut in.

"Er…Yoto…my Alert System isn't…um…working properly…and I need to call Dr. Patchingo…could I…um…borrow yours?" Leena looked at Yoto, her eyes pleading.

"What, Four Eyes couldn't lend you his?" Yoto cast Seedos a Glance while he fished through his pockets.

Seedos snorted. "Don't be silly. I don't _have_ an Alert System."

"Pfft, figures…ooh, gum," Yoto pulled out a slightly wrinkled package of gum from his pocket and began unwrapping a piece.

_"YOTO. JUST GET YOUR ALERT SYSTEM,"_ Seedos was growing exasperated quickly. He kept shooting occasional twitchy fleeting looks at the garden's east border.

"Finefinefine!" Yoto popped the unwrapped piece of gum in his mouth and resumed furiously fishing through his pockets. He lit up after a few moments and pulled out his Alert System. "GOT IT! Catch, Lee!" Yoto tossed it over to Leena, who fumbled with it for a moment but managed to keep it in her hands.

Leena gave Yoto a thankful nod and then dialed a few numbers. "Hello, Dr. Patchingo? It's, er…Leena…"

As Leena requested Patch's services, Yoto knelt down next to Seedos.

"Hey, Seedmour, did you see Leena when she had that other outfit on?" Yoto sidled up closer to Seedos and whispered so Leena couldn't hear him. Seedos shoved him away.

"Yes, fine, I did-" Seedos began as he shoved Yoto away from him.

"Wasn't she a _firebrand?_ I wonder why she went back to her old clothes…" Yoto glanced over at Leena who was still fretting into Yoto's Alert system to a most likely equally fretful Dr. Patch.

"Not now, Yoto…" Seedos shook his head and looked away.

"What?! Too busy fretting over a stupid sick Shellybean to talk about your girlfriend?" Yoto glanced down at the Shellybean, who gave him a weak glare.

Seedos jolted. "She…Leena's _not _my girlfriend!" Seedos said through clenched teeth.

"_Suuuuure,_ Seedmour-" Yoto gave Seedos a half-smirk and then nonchalantly blew a bubble with his gum.

"H-he's on his way, guys!" Leena darted over to Seedos and Yoto and held out Yoto's Alert System, which he promptly reclaimed.

"Oh, thank you, God," Seedos breathed a relieved sigh. "Let's just hope he gets here in time…" Seedos gave the garden's eastern border one last nervous gaze. "I really don't need another headache today."

Dr. Patchingo sped down the Village road in his little car, a bit nervous but determined to get to Leena's garden before _Someone He Despised_ showed up. However, he came to a sudden halt when he heard a loud cry of distress.

"WAAAAAH! IT HURTS! IT HURTS!" a high pitched voice cried. Patch's doctorly instinct got the best of him and he jumped out of his car, grabbed his medical kit, and headed towards where the voice came from, which wasn't too far away.

A dark-haired little girl in a Flutterscotch costume was sitting on the ground, sniffling and wiping her eyes. A large cut on her knee was dribbling blood down her leg.

Patch knelt down next to her, opening his medical kit. "D-did you fall?" he asked, pulling a bandage and a cloth out of his supplies.

Much to his surprise, the little girl's face lit up and she threw herself on him in a giant hug, getting quite a bit of blood on Patch's clothes.

"GAH!"  
"I know you! You're my handsome Prince Charming! You came to save me!" She giggled and squeezed Patch a little tighter. She had an alarming grip for such a tiny girl.

"N-no, I'm just a doctor-" Patch sighed a little, no use ruining the girl's fantasy. "W-well, just let me have a look at that k-knee of yours…I have another job to g-get too, I'm sorry, um…"

"Oh, Babochka!" The little girl grinned at Patch, her eyes glittering.

"Hm?"

"Babochka's my _name,_ silly prince!" Babochka giggled yet again, jumping off of Patch and sitting on the ground again. "Can you really fix my knee? Really really really?" She looked up at Patch admiringly, her purple eyes glimmering.

Patch nodded a little and smiled. "Sure, t-this might hurt a little bit, though…" Patch cleaned off Babochka's knee, but she didn't even seem fazed. She kept her glitter-eyed expression until Patch finished bandaging her knee. "B-be more careful, all right?" Patch grabbed his medical kit and stood up, heading back to his car.

"Wait, where are you going?" Babochka stood up with a pout, her arms crossed.

"I-I have something else I need to attend to, B-Babochka," Patch gave her a meek smile over his shoulder as he climbed back into his car.

"Wow, you're so mystery-ious!" Babochka donned another adoring grin. "I hope I can see you again, Mr. Prince!"

Patch waved at her quickly before taking off down the hill.

_Oh, I hope that didn't take up too much time…_ Patch thought worriedly. _I don't want to have to deal with __**him**__ again…_

"He's late, he's late, he's late, he's latelatelatelatelatelatelate!" Seedos and Leena had switched roles. Now Seedos was worriedly pacing around the garden while Leena was crouched next to the ailing Shellybean. Seedos tore at his blue hair, his eyes bugging out more than usual as he fretted about.

"I…I hope something isn't holding him up! I really don't want to…um…lose this Shellybean…" Leena rested her hand on the sick Shellybean's shell and it squeaked pitifully.

"I-I'm sorry! I-I'm here!" Patch pulled into the garden and quickly got out of his car, medicine bottle in hand.

"About time you-" Yoto started to say, but Leena elbowed him and whispered "Don't be rude!" before he could finish.

"What a coincidence," a cold voice said from the eastern end of the garden. "I'm here too."

Everyone except Patch's heads snapped in the direction of the voice, their eyes wide. Patch's expression just darkened considerably beneath his monkey hat.

Dastardos floated by the garden's edge, The Whacking Stick brandished. His mask wore an extremely unnerving smirk that chilled Leena to her very soul.

Patch took a few steps forward towards the ailing Shellybean but kept his eyes on the silver-haired reaper. _"Go away,_ you're the last person I want to see right now!" Patch's tone was alarmingly angry and his words were stutter-free. Even Yoto found that fact alarming.

Seedos began slowly backing up into the swamp inconspicuously. Dastardos' mind was set on breaking the Shellybean, so he didn't notice.

Dastardos snickered and began floating towards the hapless piñata, smirking at Patch, obviously finding Patch's attempts to be threatening rather hilarious. "Did you already lose a human patient today?" Dastardos' eye was on the bloodstains on Patch's jacket from when Babochka leapt on him. _"Such a shame_ you're about to lose a piñata one too, heh heh heh…"

"We'll see about that…" Patch smirked as he continued his trek, realizing he was much closer to the Shellybean than Dastardos was, and Dastardos liked to take his sweet time.

Yoto blinked and whispered to Leena: "Why the heck are they going so slow? If I were them I'd be running like a Sherbat outta hell to get to the piñata."

After a few more tense moments Patch finally reached the Shellybean and flicked medicine on it. Dastardos cursed loudly and made a break for the area, but Leena snatched up the newly healed Shellybean before Dastardos could get anywhere near it.

Dr. Patchingo smirked at Dastardos and said: "Nice try." before whirling around and heading back to his car.

After shooting a quick icy glare at Leena (who promptly froze with fear) Dastardos flew over to Patch and brought The Whacking Stick down rather hard onto the back of his head, cracking Patch's monkey mask with a sickening sound. Patch promptly collapsed onto the grass, knocked unconscious by the blow.

"Bastard," Dastardos spat before whirling around and heading back out of the garden.

Leena rushed over to Patch and Yoto looked after Dastardos, his jaw gaping. Seedos parted a throng of bulrushes out of the other side of the swamp and took a look at the garden through them.

"Good, he's gone…" Seedos mumbled before heading back over the bridge.

"That…was…" Yoto turned his head to where the unconscious Patch lay. "So…_COOL!"_

"What," Seedos idled at the edge of the bridge and gave Yoto a Look.

Yoto jumped to his feet. "I had NO IDEA Patch could be so badass!" Yoto ran over to Seedos, grabbed him by the shoulders, and shook him not-so-gently. "Did you SEE that? DID YOU, FOUR EYES? HUH HUH HUH HUH? All of this time I thought Patch was a walking nervy spaz, but he stood up to that creepy guy with the weird eye!"

"Don't shake me, stupid head!" Seedos shoved Yoto away.

"You're so _boring,_ Seedos, I can't believe you hid from _that!"_ Yoto sighed and shook his head.

"Guys…Patch is out cold…" Leena beckoned the boys over.

"What happened?" Seedos asked as he meandered over.

"Dastardos hit him in the head and knocked him out!" Yoto said with a huge grin, pointing at his own noggin.

"Why do you sound so _happy_ about that?" Seedos squinted at Yoto.

"What…what should we do?" Leena looked back down at Patch.

"No clue," Yoto flashed a clueless smile at Leena.

"None at all," Seedos shrugged.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Eddie hummed merrily to himself as he riffled through the files in his father's office. He was seated at his father's desk, his skinny frame practically being devoured by the overstuffed and overcolorful chair.

His father had gone off to the city to visit Eddie's mother, telling Eddie "I'm leaving you in charge of the final sign-ups for The P-Factor, all right?" before bidding him farewell. Eddie had happily accepted. He was a bit of a workaholic and felt super professional whenever he dealt with the business end of his father's talent show.

Eddie was in a bit of a fog today, however, barely able to keep his mind off of Maxime. It seemed that whenever he finally eradicated all thoughts of the entrancingly exquisite (but distressingly diminutive) girl from his mind, he'd see her name on a sign-up sheet or on a list of previous winners and the thoughts of her would come flooding back into his head.

He was yanked from his fantasies and frowned a bit when he noticed that there was still a blank spot in the competition category two days from the show, but his thoughts were interrupted by the office's Alert system jingling.

_Ha, what luck!_ Eddie thought victoriously. _Must be my last signup. Right on cue, too!_

He picked up the Alert system's receiver with a flourish. "Hello? P-Factor sign-up office! Edward Lizard the Second speaking!"

"Oh…it's you," said a low-ish, soft, forgettable voice on the other end.

Eddie blinked. "Yen? Yen Yoa?" He checked the sign-up sheet in his hand.

"Mmm," The voice on the other end of the Alert system mumbled in what was most likely affirmation.

"I already have you down for judging, why are you calling here, did you forget or something, you don't have to worry because I already have you down," Eddie said quickly as he skimmed the list twice more.

"No. I want to drop out," Yen said casually. There was a slight scuffling on the line as Yen tried to untangle the Galagoogoo that decided to cling to him earlier in the day from his hair.

"You want to WHAT?!?!" Eddie nearly dropped the Alert system. "You CANNOT do that! There's only TWO days until the show! I still have a slot I need to fill! If you drop out I'll have to fill TWO slots! That's MORE THAN ONE and therefore MUCH HARDER TO DO!" Eddie tore at his violet hair. He couldn't delay or cancel the show because of a lack of volunteers; his father would probably have a Moozipan! No, even worse, he'd have a FLAPYAK!

"Why? _Why__ do you have to __drop out__?"_ Eddie hated how whiny he was starting to sound.

"Well…" Yen mumbled.

"Well? All you can say is _'well?'_" Eddie's voice had lost the whininess and was beginning to sound simmer-y.

"Let me finish. Do you ever stop talking?" Yen said with an annoyed indignance. Eddie could practically hear Yen narrowing his eyes.

Eddie stayed quiet, but his mouth was fixed in the shape of an upside-down V with irritation.

"This is kind of a selfish reason…but I really don't want to be in front of a crowd looking like I do," Yen sighed.

"What? Did something happen?" Eddie's eyes widened a little and he blinked in confusion.

"Well, my brother-"

Eddie groaned involuntarily and Yen stopped speaking. "Sorry, sorry, go on," Eddie said, pressing his free palm against his forehead.

"He put something in my shampoo and my hair turned pink-" Yen was once again interrupted by Eddie.

"PINK?!" Eddie shouted. Yen winced on the other end of the line and held the receiver away from his ear. "Oh, God, oh God, that clashes with the monochrome you always wear and makes it even worse…" Eddie rubbed his left temple, eyes enormously wide with horror. It was pretty surprising that his contacts weren't popping off.

"Even worse?" Yen repeated.

Eddie didn't answer, he just continued his tangent. "Ugh, no, just _no,_" He gave an audible shudder at the thought. "What was I thinking, trying to prevent you from cancelling? You'll be doing everyone a favor by not showing up! REALLY!"

"Really?" Yen reiterated Eddie's words once again. Talking to him sometimes was like talking to a slightly monotone echo of yourself.

"Yes, really. Don't show up until your hair is back to normal," Eddie grabbed a pen with an eraser at the end from a tin on his dad's desk and began scratching Yen's name off the sign-up sheet.

Yen gave a short, relieved sigh and hung up without a thank-you or a goodbye. Eddie paid it no mind and replaced the Alert system on its base.

Before he could return to stressing about not having enough people so close to the deadline, the door swung open and a yellow and pink blur zipped into Eddie's dad's office.

"EDDIEKIIIIINS!" the blur wailed. It screeched to a halt in front of the desk, revealing itself to be Petula. She hunched over, palms on the desk, panting with exhaustion. "Do…you…like…have any slots…left for…P-Factor…?!?!" she panted between huge gulps of breath.

Eddie grinned his trademark dazzling grin, actually grateful to see Petula for once. He twirled the pen over, pointing the tip of it at the line where Yen's name was once written. "I have two, one for judging and one for competing-"

Petula leapt up, instantly forgetting that she was tired now that she had caught Eddie's attention, gloved hands clasped coyly under her chin. "OOOH, that's AWESOME! Like, put my name down for judging, kay?"

Eddie nodded, but he remembered something before his pen touched the paper. "Hey, wait; didn't you say something about having to do something for your parents a few days ago?" Eddie tapped the eraser end of the pen against his chin pensively. "I don't want you to cancel on me last minute, because _my_ dad needs me to-"

"OH, they can reorganize the shop's stuff themselves when they, like, come back from their holiday or whatever!" Petula said with a nonchalant flap of her hand. "They'll, like, NEVER know if I skip out on work! They're not, like, psychic or anything!"

"Promise you won't cancel," Eddie gave Petula as serious a look as he could manage.

Petula crossed her heart and mimed sticking a needle in her eye. "Promise!"

"Good," Eddie smiled and jotted her name down.

Petula leaned against the desk. "Wow, you must, like, really want me there, huh?" she purred.

"Of course I do! I really do!" Eddie said without looking up. He obviously started his thought with the wrong words. He had planned on finishing it with "You take up a slot on the sign up sheet, after all!" but before those words could come out of his mouth Petula had scaled the desk and wound up sitting in Eddie's lap.

"GAH-MMPH!" Eddie's mouth had begun to widen to a scream, but Petula silenced him by lifting up her mask a bit and pressing her mouth against his. She pulled away after a few seconds, a catlike smirk on her face. Eddie was in complete shock, his mouth hanging open and his eyes bulging. Petula misinterpreted his expression as one of enchantment. "Y'know, no one's around or anything…we could get away with LOTS of stuff…" Petula purred before planting another smooch on the catatonic Eddie as she fingered the collar of his shirt.

Eddie snapped out of it and attempted to push Petula off of him, but she pressed herself against him even more. Eddie was quite scrawny, so any struggles he made proved futile.

Eddie would have been the victim of first-degree molestation if the door had not happened to swing open, quickly followed by a loud "WHOA!!!!!!"

The cavalry, at last! Petula pulled her tongue from Eddie's throat in shock, her head snapping towards the door, face bright red.

Sahari stood at the door, an impish grin on her round mask. One hand covered her mouth as she half-heartedly pretended to try to hide a snickering fit.

"Am I interrupting something?" she asked with mock innocence.

Eddie straightened his slightly lopsided eyeband, his face a shade of red to match it. _"NO."_

"But wasn't she just-" Sahari pointed at Petula, who broodingly pulled her mask back into place with a disappointed sigh.

"The heat from the desert's obviously gone to your head, Sahari," Eddie stated as he smoothed his tousled hair. "You were probably hallucinating."

"You're a pathetic liar. Petula's sitting right _on_ you."

Eddie shot Petula a look that said "get-off-of-me-can't-you-see-my-reputation's-at-stake."

Pointedly pouting, Petula stood up and crossed her arms, rooted to her spot. Eddie was petrified that she'd finish what she started as soon as Sahari left, so he was determined to keep Sahari around until Petula got bored, which wasn't a difficult mood to put her in.

Eddie stood; indignantly smoothing the shirt that Petula had so uncourteously wrinkled during her sexual harassment, and fixed his eyes on Sahari's.

"Why'd you come here, do you want to sign up?" He put on a false smile, hoping in vain that Sahari would forget the sight that greeted her when she walked into the office. Petula continued to look like a damp Kittyfloss at his side.

"Yeeeeeeah, I do," Sahari dragged out the "yeah" like she was highly weirded out by Eddie's actions, but she wasn't to blame; She had just walked in on him while his mouth was being intruded upon by the pet shop clerk that he often spoke ill of and he was now pretending that Sahari had imagined what she had witnessed. It was only natural that Sahari would be feeling a bit strange.

"PERFECT!" Eddie exclaimed. It was painfully obvious that he was trying to be as over the top as possible, hoping in vain that his flourish-flanked behavior would somehow give Sahari amnesia. "All I have left is a slot for competing, though, is that all right?"

"Exactly what I wanted to do!" Sahari grinned in spite of herself. "Put me down for that!"

Eddie did as she commanded, casting an occasional fleeting nervous glance at the still-as-Jardiniero's-legs Petula, who showed no signs of moving anytime soon.

"Who else signed up for this round?" Sahari asked, tilting her head in a failed attempt to read the list.

"Let's see…the judges are Petula, Avalon, See-"

"I don't _care_ about who's judging!" Sahari slammed a fist down on Eddie's desk, causing Eddie to jump involuntarily. "I want to know who I'm up against!

"Oh…you're competing against _Maxime…"_ The way Eddie said Maxime's name was more of a sigh then a statement.

"Pfft. Easy win," Sahari didn't seem to notice the way Eddie said Maxime's name. She chuckled and put her hands on her hips, looking like she was celebrating her victory two days too early.

Petula noticed, though, and the pout on her lips reached a level that No Pout Has Ever Reached Before. Eddie ignored her and continued to read from the list.

"Me-"

"Easy win," Sahari repeated.

Eddie glared at her a little before reading the final name from the competitor's list. "And Sparcticus-"

"UGH, _HIM?!"_ Sahari made a face that one would make if they realized they somehow stepped in roadkill.

"What do you have against him, anyway? He's not a bad person-" Eddie tried to begin but Sahari cut him off.

"He just _pisses me off!"_ Sahari stomped a sandaled foot and crossed her arms. "In the last P-Factor that we competed against each other in I totally whooped that frozen butt of his. But he didn't even get angry at me for beating him! He just looked at me after the show and said:" Sahari attempted to imitate Sparcticus, speaking from deeper within her chest. "'Good job.'" She reverted back to her normal voice after a few coughs. "And he SMILED at me and _everything! _UGH. He's NO FUN AT ALL. He had the gall to IGNORE me when I told him he wasn't even worthy of competing, too!"

_Good, I think she forgot what happened earlier…_ Eddie thought midway through Sahari's monologue. "Sounds like he's just being a good sport," Eddie remarked. "You know, Sahari, I've never heard you speak so fiercely about _anyone_ before."

"Well, he's just-wait, what are you implying?" Sahari planted her hands on her hips and leaned forward, squinting at Eddie accusingly.

"The lady doth protest too much, methinks," Eddie smirked. "Are you in love?"

Petula's pout faded and the ears on her mask seemed to perk up with interest. She had a feeling she might learn something that not even _Leafos_ knew yet! Things could quite possibly turn in her favor after all!

Sahari gasped, looking somewhat offended. "I-what-not-!" Sahari sputtered like popcorn in hot oil, her face heating up behind her mask. She crossed her arms tightly and turned away from Eddie.

"Is that a 'yes?'" Eddie prodded.

"I…am…not…" Eddie and Petula could almost hear the white-hot anger boiling in Sahari's words. "In…love…with…_HIM!"_ Sahari whirled around, glaring at Eddie fiercely. He felt himself bristle, even though Sahari barely came up to his chest. Her stature was tiny but her presence was anything but.

"Well, sorry, Sahari, it's just that-"

"Just WHAT?! I'll have you know I can't STAND the guy! He's so boring," she ticked off her qualms on her fingers, "and he's irritating, and he's from the place I hate the most, and he's tall, and he's handsome, and-" Sahari covered the mouth of her mouth, eyes growing large. "Whoops…"

Petula grinned, her usually slow brain quickly gulping down the information she heard. Eddie grinned broadly from the sheer joy of being right.

"Don't look at me like that, you idiot!" Sahari sped behind the desk, shoved Petula out of the way, causing her to crash-land ungracefully into a filing cabinet, and nearly poked her finger through Eddie's chest. "You better not tell ANYONE about what I just said. If you do, I'll tell _everyone_ about-"

Eddie's eyes bulged out and he held up a hand to silence Sahari. "I won't, but _you_ better not tell anyone about what you saw when you came in here," Eddie gave Sahari as serious a look as he could manage.

"Fine," Sahari grabbed Eddie's hand and shook it vigorously. "I'll let you live another day…but as for YOU…" Sahari whirled to face the dizzy Petula. "…if _you_ speak of what you heard, I'll shove you off a cliff. And let me tell you something, a 50 pinometer fall hurts a whole lot more than being shoved into a filing cabinet!" Sahari turned on her heel and stormed towards the door with a quick flick of her poncho. She paused with her hand on the knob to give Eddie a small wave. "Thanks a lot!"

"Hold on a second!" Eddie hurriedly gathered up his things and skittered towards the door. "Everything's all set, so I might as well go too. I'm closing up shop, Petula; you had better get out of here too." Eddie leaned against the wall, one hand on his hip.

"…huuuuh?" Petula had received a strong knock on her noggin when she got pushed over; she blinked at Eddie blankly and rubbed the back of her head absentmindedly.

"Just leave 'er. She'll come to eventually, no great loss," Sahari shrugged and made as if to leave.

"But the professional thing to do would be-"

"Screw that. If she's with you alone again, who knows what she'd do!" Sahari remarked, a smidgeon of smugness staining her voice.

"I THOUGHT I TOLD YOU NOT TO MENTION-oh wait, you do have a point," Eddie sighed as he gave up. "Okay, Petula, I'll leave the door open. Just leave whenever you feel better." Eddie held the door open for Sahari and then made his own glorious exit.

"Hee hee…" Petula leaned against the filing cabinet, her head still whirling with pain. "Eddiekins is sooooooo cute…"


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

As par usual, Sahari was lost in very angry thoughts. Her day hadn't been going well for her at all. First she walks in on one of the most disgusting scenes she ever saw in her life, and then she opens her big mouth and admits that she has a crush on someone she didn't even think twice about before. Of course she had to do it in front of one of the two biggest gossips on Piñata Island, to boot! ARGH!

After stomping out of the P-Factor building, she began taking the route back to the Dessert Desert on a path in the jungle, still lost in her fury-fueled thoughts.  
Why the hell did she say she liked Sparcticus? She DIDN'T! He stood for everything she was against! She's from the desert, he's from the Piñarctic, she's a hot-head, he prides himself on how calm and cool he is, she loves to fight, he hates conflict, he's tall, she's…vertically challenged. If she was in love with a guy like THAT, it would be like she didn't even know herself anymore! Plus, it would never work out anyway.

Too bad for her, the fact that the words came flying out of her mouth before she had a chance to stop them would probably be all over the Island in no time. Sahari had a sinking feeling that her threat to Petula was futile. Petula would risk getting all four of her limbs hacked off in order to have a good story to spread around. It was almost as if she delighted in watching the chaos unfold. Sahari crossed her arms and kept her scowling eyes ahead. The path was a lot harder to walk through than she remembered it being…

_Wait a minute…_ Sahari thought, looking down at the ground. _Where'd the path go?_

Sahari did a double take. Then a triple. There was absolutely no sign of a clear path, just trees, bushes, and small bug piñatas loafing around.

Wait…if Sahari couldn't find the path, than that means she was…

No! NO! She COULDN'T be lost! She just couldn't be! She wasn't absent-minded! She was a strong-willed and focused woman! If she was absent-minded, that would make her like that stupid hulking Piñarctican idiot Sp-

Sahari shook her shaggy head wildly. No. NO. Don't think about him! Do. Not. Think. About. Him. You'll just create more stupid problems for yourself! She stood on her toes and attempted to survey the area. Sadly, she had immense difficulty due to the fact that she's barely taller than a good-sized tumbleweed. She groaned and dropped back to her normal height.

"This BLOWS!" Sahari kicked the base of one of the plentiful trees. "I'm NEVER going to find my way out of this stupid jungle!"

Much to Sahari's surprise, her cry of distress that she thought no one could hear was heard.

"…is someone there?" a very bewildered voice came from the tangle of foliage.

"AGH!" Sahari screamed in spite of herself and dove behind a thick tree trunk. "Don't come anywhere near me, or I'll hit you with…" Sahari looked around desperately. "SOMETHING!" Her quick glance around the jungle gave her no means of defending herself. "Damn it, I forgot my shovel…" she muttered.

"What the-Sahari, is that you?" The Voice from the Trees was completely unfazed by Sahari's threat.

Sahari was taken aback. "Wh…what's it to ya?"

"Oh, nothing," The voice got closer.

The next thing Sahari knew, the very man she had been trying not to think about had leaned around the tree and made eye contact with her.

"It's just that I'm awfully glad to see someone else who's lost, even if it _is_ you," he said with a half-smile.

Sahari jolted. ARGH, of ALL PLACES she could have run into him, she HAD to run into him in the jungle. At night. Alone.

"Didn't recognize your voice," Sahari feigned indifference, despite the fact that her heart was beating so hard that she was scared it would burst from her chest or worse yet, that Sparcticus would hear it pounding. "That's probably because you hardly ever speak."

"Please, Sahari, we're lost, do you think you could not antagonize me for once?" Sparcticus offered a hand to her.

Sahari ignored his offer of help and rose to her feet on her own. Damn, I forgot how tall he is, she thought, craning her neck to get a good look at his mask as she brushed off her poncho.

_"I don't need your help,_ Mr. Cold Shoulders," Sahari planted her fists on her hips, or lack thereof. "I have a good sense of direction; I can get out of here on my own." She strode right by him, heading in whatever direction her gut was taking her. She expected him to protest, but surprisingly, he didn't. Sahari smirked in victory as she kept striding through the jungle…that is, until she heard a twig snap.

She whipped around to find that Sparcticus had been walking behind her.

"What the HELL? Why are you following me?!" Sahari snapped.

"…well, the Piñarctic and the Desert are right across from each other, so we'd be heading in the same direction," Sparcticus shrugged his broad shoulders. "You didn't say I couldn't follow you. You're the one with the good sense of direction, after all."

Sahari felt her face grow as hot as the desert and silently thanked whoever came up with the fact that Piñata Islanders are to wear masks in public. She turned away from Sparcticus without saying anything and continued prodding along.

She felt her heart stop when Sparcticus spoke up again after several minutes. "If your sense of direction is so good, how did you get lost?"

Sahari froze in place and looked over her shoulder at him. He had stopped too, an expectant look on his mask and one hand resting on his hip.

_"Oh, I was just lost in my thoughts about how I accidentally said I was in love with you in front of Eddie and Petula even though I completely and utterly am not in love with you and lost the path,"_ Sahari totally wasn't going to say.

God, why was her heart racing? What could ANYONE possibly see in this guy? He was so tall. And fit. And good-looking. And-

Oh, right.

"How did YOU get lost? You're so tall, you can probably see over the tops of the trees," Sahari spat, once again disguising her embarrassment as rage.

"I swear, you're as bitter as bad coffee," Sparcticus rolled his eyes. "Well, I'm not going to lie; I'm not exactly good at focusing on whatever I'm doing. I got lost in whatever was going on in my head at the time and the next thing I knew, the path wasn't under my boots." Sparcticus shrugged. "We'll get out of here eventually."

_Wow. He doesn't care that we're lost at all…_ Sahari was a bit awestruck. _Wait a damn second; HE was lost in his thoughts? This guy who looks like he wouldn't let a Sour Limeo look at him wrong without giving it Hell in a hand basket was lost in his thoughts? _Sahari let out a mental sigh. _Wonder if he's in love with someone…well, I wouldn't let some random hot Eskimo chick take this guy away from me without a fight-WAIT, WHAT THE HELL AM I THINKING?_

"Um…Sahari…" It took Sparcticus walking over to Sahari and waving his hand in front her face to snap Sahari out of her trance. "Are you okay?"

Sahari felt her rebellious heart flutter and had to swallow a huge gulp of air to disguise the fact that she gasped. Her world crashed down around her as she had an awful, terrible, epiphany.

She _was_ in love with Sparcticus.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Much to Sahari's annoyance, the jungle didn't end as soon as she had her awful, horrific, terrible epiphany. It still went on and on and Sahari feared she'd never get out of it. How big could it be?!

She couldn't look at Sparcticus. Looking at him was like staring at the sun to her now, only much more…pleasant. She was afraid that she'd wind up staring. AGH, she told herself she'd never fall so easily for a guy! She met SO MANY guys who lived in the desert, and not one of them came CLOSE to heating up her heart. So what the hell suddenly made her fall for SPARCTICUS, the Coldest of the Cold?

She didn't have much time to think about it because he suddenly grabbed her by the arm and pulled her behind another one of the thick trees.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU-MMPH!" Sahari didn't have time to scream at Sparcticus because he covered her mouth and shushed her.

"I heard something…don't make any noise…" Sparcticus' words were barely breaths. Sahari thought it was impossible to talk that quietly up until now. How the hell could someone do that?!

Sahari pried Sparcticus' hand off of her mouth. "Well, that doesn't mean you have to GRAB me…!" she said quickly in a frenzied whisper while trying to mask her embarrassment.

"No, no, I'm sorry, it's just that I think it's a Sour Limeocerous…I don't want either of us to get hurt…" Sparcticus said in that quiet breathy voice that bewildered Sahari so. "It would be a whole lot of trouble if we ran into one at this hour…" Sahari could have sworn he shuddered a little as he chanced a peek around the tree.

Sahari clapped a hand over the mouth of her mask in an attempt to stifle her snickers. "You're…you're scared of a Sour _Limeo?"_ Sahari couldn't believe that big tough Sparty was scared of _anything._

"I've never dealt with them before…" Sparcticus gave Sahari a wary look and tensed up when some footsteps shamble-stomped right by the tree, shaking the ground.

"Pfft, you'd never last in the desert!" Sahari poked around in the underbrush until she found a stick that was almost as big as her. "I'll take care of this thing, don't you worry." The little ego-boost she got from being braver than a man made her forget that she was in love for a moment. She slung the stick over her shoulder and went running from behind the tree. Sparcticus poked his head out just in time to see Sahari strike the creature in the butt with the stick, leaving a sizable dent.

The Limeocerous snorted and turned its face towards a smirking Sahari, who promptly smacked it again. The beast didn't know why Sahari was hitting it, all it knew that it was pretty irritated with the barrage of whacks. It whipped around and charged into her.

Sahari underestimated the Sour Piñata's strength and went flying backwards. Sparcticus gaped; he never should have let Sahari go out alone. She wasn't exactly the most intimidating person in the world, after all…

He impulsively grabbed a large stick of his own and leapt out in front of the injured Sahari, glaring as hard as he could at the monstrous piñata.

It was then that he realized he towered over it.

The Sour Limeo noticed too, because it stopped in its tracks, gave Sparcticus a quick once-over, and then ran for the hills.

Sparcticus stood dumbstruck for a moment, but then he remembered what the Sour did to poor Sahari. He spun around and looked down to find Sahari slumped against a tree, cringing in pain.

Sparcticus walked over to her, crouched down to her level, opened his mouth, and said:

"That was pretty stupid."

"What…did…you…say…?!" Sahari gave him a weak glower.

"I said 'that was pretty stupid,'" Sparcticus shook his head. "You don't have to try and show off, Sahari, there's no one here but me." He rose to his full height and held out a hand for her.

Sahari once again tried to get up without Sparcticus' help, but she fell right back down. She let out a sigh and let her tiny hand disappear into Sparcticus' huge one and he pulled her to her feet. She stumbled forward, and Sparcticus put an arm around her to steady her.

"Can you walk?" he asked, looking down at her.

"Let me see…" Sahari gave a few clumsy, cautious steps forward and nearly fell backwards. She stopped herself by gripping Sparcticus' shirt.

"Apparently not…well, I'll be better soon, I'm not one to let injuries get me down for long!" Sahari bragged, subconsciously hoping that Sparcticus would see her as a determined person.

"Well, we won't get anywhere if you're hurt, so you better lean against me…" Sparcticus put his arm around Sahari again and she did what she was told. They began taking small steps through the jungle.

"On the bright side, since we just saw a Sour Limeocerous, the desert shouldn't be too far away…" Sparcticus observed.

Sahari wasn't listening, though. She felt like an awkward teenager with her feelings all up in a panic as she pressed up against Sparcticus for support. She'd never been this close to ANYONE before, not counting when Sparcticus grabbed her and covered her mouth, anyway. Her face was on fire under her mask and her heart was beating ten miles a minute, and this time she was SURE Sparcticus would notice-

"Geez, your heart is pounding," Sparcticus noticed.

Sahari choked.

"You scared something else is going to jump out at you or something?" Sparcticus kept his eyes ahead.

Sahari let out a small sigh of relief. "Yeeeeeeeeeeah…_that's _it…" _Damn it, now he thinks I'm actually a wimp…_

"Well, you don't have to worry about that with me here," Sparcticus gave Sahari's shoulder a reassuring squeeze, and all she could do was blush in response.

They walked in silence this time, but it wasn't awkward or cold - it was warm. Sahari couldn't believe Sparcticus came to her rescue and didn't just make a run for it. She was more than a little disappointed that she didn't get to see him actually attack the creature, but it would have been absolutely terrible if it attacked him right back.

Sparcticus' voice jolted Sahari from her thoughts.

"We made it," he looked at Sahari with a grin as the two of the stepped out onto the edges of a grassy garden in front of Piñata Central, the Pinarctic at one side and the Dessert Desert at the other.

"Oh, we did, huh," Sahari felt strange. She didn't want Sparcticus to leave…

Sparcticus gazed at Sahari's mask and the forehead of his own mask creased in worry. "Are you still hurt? Do you think you can make it home by yourself? I'd bring you…but…" He looked a little sheepish.

"No, no, I don't blame you!" Sahari groaned. "The desert is SCORCHING, even at night…you'd probably die of heatstroke." She gently pushed Sparcticus' arm off of her and flopped down on the grass. "I just got the wind knocked out of me…I'll be fine in a minute or two…"

Much to Sahari's astonishment, Sparcticus didn't just go "Okay then" and go on his way; he just sat down next to her.

"You know, Sahari," Sparcticus still wore his sheepish look. "Before this happened…I thought you hated me."

"I thought I did too," Sahari muttered, looking away from Sparcticus.

"What?"

"I said: 'Why the hell would you think that?!'" Sahari turned to face him again, giving him a fake look of disbelief.

"Well, you always made fun of me…" Sparcticus started ticking off his fingers. "And where I live…and my piñatas…and the way I dress…and-"

"That's…that's just how I am, Sparty!" Sahari gave him a dismissive hand gesture. "Just because I tease you doesn't mean I _hate_ you! Plus, all of the P-Factor fans think we have some kind of long-standing rivalry going on…I'm just giving them what they want!"

"That's true…" Sparcticus stroked his chin in thought, and then he smirked. "You really do try too hard to make people like you."

"What?!"

Sparcticus shifted his position and rested an elbow on a bent knee and leaned forward. "Seems to me like you'd do whatever it takes to get cheers from the crowd…did you have a rough childhood or something?"

"That…that's a personal question!" Sahari leaned away from him. _Damn it, he reads me like a book!_

"You don't have to explain, just say yes or no."

"Fine…yes…" Sahari threw up her hands in defeat. "Yes, sort of, I did."

"We have something in common, then," The corners of Sparcticus' mouth turned up. "My mother pretty much never let me out of the house when I was a kid…" Sparcticus sighed a little. "My father left when I was really young…so I think she was worried about losing me, too…"

_Wow, he had no human contact when he was a kid…that sure explains a lot-wait, why the heck is he confiding in me?_ Sahari couldn't help but feel a sudden rush of confidence. Maybe…maybe he had some feelings for her, too?! Nah…no guy would ever go for her…she had no figure, dressed like a slob, and hadn't grown an inch since her tenth birthday. Her confidence disappeared as quickly as it came.

"What happened to your mom?" Sahari found herself asking.

"She died," Sparcticus said simply.

"Oh, I'm sorry-"

Sparcticus wasn't finished. "She died of hypothermia during a particularly rough winter when I was eighteen…" he shrugged. "I wish I could say I miss her…but…I'm still sort of relieved that she's gone…" He sighed again. "I'm sorry…didn't mean to ramble…you probably don't care, anyway."

"But I do!" Sahari sprung up to her feet so she was eye-to-eye with the still sitting Sparcticus. "That explains so much about you, you have no idea! I always wondered why you pretty much never talked! In fact…I heard you speak more tonight than I ever did ever since the day we met!" Sahari crossed her arms with a grin.

Sparcticus couldn't help but smile back at her. "Seems like you can stand by yourself now."

"Oh…yeah, I can, huh?" Sahari looked down at her sandaled feet. "Well, I better be off, then!" It was quite obvious that she was trying to hide her disappointment about having to leave him, but she didn't really care whether he knew it or not. He had confided something in her, and she knew more about the mysterious Sparcticus than anyone else on the Island! She'd take what he told her to her grave, too. If his past spread like wildfire he wouldn't be "the mysterious Sparcticus" anymore, he'd be just plain "Sparcticus!"

"Sahari, hold on a second," Sahari heard Sparcticus rise to his feet behind her.

She looked over her shoulder at him. "What is it?"

He approached her and crouched down to her eye level.

"Thanks for not leaving me alone out there," he smiled. "You're not a bad person at all."

The inside of Sahari's mask heated up to around 200 degrees.

"Thanks for not leaving me alone with that Limeo," Sahari found herself saying, a blush in her voice. "You're…not a bad person either."

Sparcticus ruffled Sahari's hair and rose to his full height, giving her a quick wave before turning and heading towards the polar Pinarctic.

Sahari gazed after him until he was out of sight.

She knew the heat of the desert wouldn't match the heat in her heart even in the middle of summer.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Seedos loved mornings; e may be one of the grumpiest people on the Island, but mornings always made him happy. The sunlight made spotting the bright colors of seeds a whole lot easier and hardly anyone was up at this hour to bother him. He could search for seeds without gardeners demanding that he hand over ones that he already collected. Sometimes he wondered what made him decide to start giving away free seeds in the first place…

His thoughts were yanked right out of his oversized head as he tripped over a rock. Seeds flew in every direction and Seedos struggled to get up, cursing under his breath. He shrugged off his now much lighter backpack, dropped to his knees, and scrambled to get seeds back into his bag, silently thanking God that Sour Shellybeans aren't morning Piñatas.

"Seedos, is this yours?" a voice with a pained cringe in it said.

Seedos' head snapped in the direction of the voice. Leena stood, gesturing to her shoulder with a hurt expression on her face. A Prickly Pear seed had decided to stick into Leena, and judging by her bloody fingertips, it wouldn't be getting out anytime soon.

Seedos groaned. Leena had no idea how to handle weed seeds, and yet she was the one who received the honor of gardening on his father's property?

"Yes indeedy, that belongs to me," Seedos rose to his feet and made his way over to Leena. "I'll take it back now, if you don't mind."

"Oh…um…let me try to get it…then…" Leena made a move to attempt to pull the seed out of her shoulder again, but Seedos grabbed her by the wrist.

_"I'll _get it," Seedos' tone left no room for negotiation. "You'll just hurt yourself even more. Now don't move."

Leena didn't have to be told twice, she was already frozen because Seedos grabbed onto her wrist. Seedos took great care not to touch the spikes and removed the seed from Leena's shoulder in one quick move. He shoved the weed seed back into his red pouch and returned to picking up the piles of seeds he lost without another word.

"…do you need help?" Leena asked, rubbing her shoulder where the seed decided to stick into her.

Seedos sighed and shook his head. In some way or another, he always found himself needing this girl's help. Why HER, of all people? Oh well, beggars can't be choosers.

Before he could mull it over further, Seedos found himself saying "Yes, sure, thank you."

Leena tried to no avail to disguise her immense joy. She flew over to Seedos' side, dropped to her bony knees, and began gathering up as many seeds as she possibly could.

"Be careful with those!" Seedos urged when he noticed that she nearly had an entire armful. "I found all of those one by one, you know, they all mean a lot to me!"

"Oh, um, I'm sorry…um…" Leena began to dither, but Seedos held up a hand to silence her.

"Just give them to me, don't worry about it," He let out a sigh as Leena skittered over to him and handed the seeds over.

_Argh…no matter what happens…why does __she__ always wind up being to one who has to help me?_ Seedos watched Leena as she picked up more scattered seeds one by one, twirling them in her fingers in admiration before returning them to Seedos' backpack. Seedos let his mind wander as he put the seeds Leena handed to him into his backpack. _It's because no one else cares about me, I guess,_ Seedos resisted the urge to snort as he peered inside his backpack to examine the contents. He smiled a bit when he saw that it was filling up again rather quickly. _At least she gets work done…_

"Okay…um…is that all of them…Seedos?" Leena asked after a few minutes. She couldn't quite make eye contact with him; her face flushed a deep shade of crimson.

"I'm one hundred percent sure!" Seedos zipped his pack shut and slipped his arms through the straps. "Um…thanks a lot for your help. I don't know why you always show up when I need it…but I'm glad you do," Seedos admitted reluctantly.

Leena beamed a glazed glow and Seedos quickly wrung his hands and spat "No, no, no, don't jump to conclusions, I didn't mean it THAT way!" He couldn't think of anything else to do after saying that except turn on his heel and run like the wind out of Leena's garden.

Leena let out a drawn-out sigh and sat down on the grass, gazing after Seedos until he disappeared in the distance. She was snapped out of yet another heartbreak by the feeling of a hand on her shoulder. Leena had a small heart attack and jumped, snapping her head in the direction of who the hand was attached to.

"I saw _everything."_ The hand belonged to Storkos, a Bispotti egg tucked under one of her arms and a look of pity on her masked face.

Leena blushed profusely, remembering that she had sent two Bispottis to romance before Seedos had come stumbling into her garden. Storkos, being the concerned sister that she was, had stuck around to see what would happen between her little brother and Leena…and it was about what she expected it to be.

"I…I'm so sorry, Storkos…it's just…um…" Leena wasn't sure what she was apologizing about, but Storkos interrupted Leena's dithering before she could finish.

"It's not your fault!" Storkos dropped the egg onto the ground and put her hands on her hips. "That was completely and utterly Seedos' fault…don't get me wrong, I love my brother like crazy, but he can be a little…well…" Storkos scratched her head in thought. "…mistrusting when it comes to other people."

"But I've…um…I've known him for a long time…and I…" Leena averted her eyes away from Storkos, her face turning pink.

"You have a huge crush on him, I know, it's painfully obvious!" Storkos laughed in spite of Leena's heartbreak, and Leena's face quickly deepened from pink to red. "But you know what I like about you?" Storkos turned Leena's head to face hers. "You never give up on my brother. You're persistent! He's made you upset so many times, but you just keep on trying!"

"Um…thank you…" Leena smiled a bit. "But…I've been trying for a while…and he just…hasn't shown even the slightest bit of…um…interest in me…"

"Really?" Storkos blinked, and then she laughed again. "He let you touch his seed collection, Leena, he likes you a lot more than you think." Storkos draped an arm around the much smaller girl's shoulder. "I think he just needs a little encouragement…"

"What do you mean?" Leena asked, cocking her head to the side.

"I'll talk to him about you when I find time!" Storkos grinned at Leena. "I'm his sister, if anyone can shove him in the right direction, it's me!"

"Oh…um…but what if he…er…got mad at you?" Leena twiddled her fingers a bit. "I'd feel so terrible…"

"It's a risk I'm willing to take!" Storkos winked at Leena. "Plus Seedos would never get mad at me. He owes me his life, but that's a looooong story." Storkos released Leena and stood up, her cape and dark pigtails blowing behind her with a sudden breeze, making her look quite heroic indeed. "I better get to work now, but I'll send you an Alert as soon as I talk to him, I swear on Stardos' grave!" Storkos made a cross over her heart before swooping off.

Somewhere, Dastardos sneezed.

"Thank you so much!" Leena yelled joyous gratitude after Storkos, waving goodbye to her as she flew off into the distance.

Leena smiled to herself. Seedos was lucky to have a sister like Storkos…now all Leena had to do was play the waiting game. She said a silent, hopeful prayer before returning to work, lost in her lovesick thoughts.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

"Geez, Seedmour, is this _all_ you do when you're in here?" Yoto made a face as he strode into Seedos' house uninvited, slamming the door behind him. "Why do you even have to _polish_ those stupid things? They're just going back into the dirt, anyway!"

Seedos jumped and nearly dropped the bluebell seed he was polishing when he heard the door slam. He quickly calmed himself down and gave Yoto a glare that could crack an egg. "Haven't you ever heard of _knocking?!"_

"Nope!" Yoto laughed as he ran across the room and leapt on the couch next to Seedos, who made a point to scoot as far away from him as possible. "If you want people to knock, you should put a lock on your door!" Yoto waggled a finger at Seedos and gave him a look of mock sternness.

Seedos gritted his teeth. "Never mind that. What do you want from me? If you just came here to bug me for no reason, you'll regret it!"

"Ohhhh, I'm _soooooo_ scared!" Yoto's voice shot up to falsetto and he burst into laughter again.

Seedos made a noise that sounded like a Moozipan giving birth to a Jeli and stood up, quickly placing the bluebell seed and the rag he was using to polish it on the end table next to the couch. "That's it, I'm done, you're gone!" Seedos grabbed Yoto by the arm and yanked him off of the couch. He had a surprising amount of upper body strength, and Yoto found himself being dragged across the room towards the door.

"Fine, fine, Seedmour, geez, _ow!"_ Yoto tried to no avail to wrench his arm from Seedos' grasp. "I'll stop! Let go of me!"

Seedos reluctantly released Yoto, sending him stumbling as he tried to regain his balance. Seedos stood with his hands on his hips, fixing Yoto with another brain-breaking glare.

Yoto straightened up and rubbed his arm. "I'm here because Leena was talking about-" As soon as Seedos heard the word "Leena", Yoto found himself being yanked towards the door again. "OW, SEEDMOUR, WHAT THE HELL?!"

"I'm sorry, but I don't want to talk about Leena right now!" Seedos swung the door open and was ready to toss Yoto out of it, when he found himself mask-to-mask with his older sister, who was looking very confused.

"Storkos? What are you doing here?" Seedos forgot his animosity towards Yoto for a moment and stepped back a bit, lugging Yoto with him.

"I came here to talk to you about something, actually!" Storkos looked down at the slack-jawed Yoto, who turned bone-white. "But I see you already have company…"

"Yoto's not company, he just barged in and-"

Seedos was interrupted by Yoto scrambling to his feet, blurting "I'm just going now, see you later!", twisting his arm out of Seedos' grasp, scrambling past Storkos, and nearly falling off the bridge as he fled.

Storkos and Seedos both looked after him for a few moments.

"…he's strange," Storkos shook her head and turned to face her little brother. "But never mind him, I came here to right a great wrong!" She put a hand on Seedos' shoulder and ushered him inside, kicking the door shut.

Seedos let out a long, drawn-out sigh. "For the last time, Storkos, I'm not trying to make a seed-powered doomsday device. Leafos made up that rumor after she got mad at me last month when I-"

Storkos chuckled. "It's not about that; it's a much bigger problem than just a rumor!" She sat on the arm of Seedos' couch and motioned for him to sit down too, but he shook his head.

"Don't beat around the bush, Storkos," Seedos crossed his skinny arms and gave his sister A Look.

"Fine, fine!" Storkos gave her brother as serious a look as she could manage. "You know how Leena feels about you, right?"

"Oh my God, not _you_ too," Seedos buried his mask in his hands. "Look, I don't know if you heard me, but I told Yoto earlier that _I don't want to talk about her!"_

"Seedos, Seedos, calm down!" Storkos shot off the couch and grabbed her brother by the shoulders. "You're _seventeen,_ act your age!"

Seedos made the Moozipan-giving-birth noise again and refused to meet Storkos' eyes.

"I saw everything this morning," Storkos admitted. "Everything that happened after you fell down and dropped most of your seed collection. Leena was really upset after you left."

"She's _always_ upset," Seedos murmured.

"She wouldn't be if you'd at least give her the time of day, Seedos!" Storkos sighed. "I've never seen anyone else besides me who cares about you as much as Leena does! I don't understand why you shut her out; you have no problems talking to _me!"_

"It's different with you, Storkos," Seedos still didn't look at her. "You're my _sister._ Leena's a…_girl."_

Storkos almost laughed in spite of the situation. "I'm a girl too, buddy! But I'm not asking you to _go out_ with her. At least tell her 'thank you' if she helps you out or talk to her if she wants to talk to you, okay? I just can't stand to see one of the citizens of my beloved Island so upset! Seriously, what do you have against her? The way you ran away from her earlier…it was like you found out she had the Rashberry Flu or something!"

"…she saw me without my mask once…" Seedos mumbled.

"What? Speak up!"

"She saw me without my mask a few days ago!" Seedos finally made eye contact with Storkos, feeling his face grow a little warm under his mask.

"What? How?" Storkos looked genuinely surprised.

"Okay, you know how I don't have a lock on my door, right?" Seedos pointed at the door to his house.

"Everyone does!" Storkos nodded.

"Well, a few days ago I was fixing my mask after some jerk broke it with his shovel, and I couldn't see a thing because he broke my glasses, too," Seedos explained. "It was taking forever to fix it; you know how my eyesight is without my glasses. I guess Leena was looking for me or something, because she opened my door WITHOUT MY PERMISSION and saw me without my mask on." At this point, Seedos was bright red under his oversized mask. He tore his eyes away from his sister's again. "She helped me fix my mask, but still…it's just weird to see her after that happened…"

"Seedos, that's _all?!"_ Storkos didn't know whether to laugh or smack her brother in the face. "The reason you've been running away from Leena was because _she saw you without your mask on?"_

"No, no, no, I wasn't finished!" Seedos shook his head. "When she helped me mend my mask and when she helped me collect my seeds earlier this morning…she's been more…_friendly_ than I'd like her to be. I think she keeps taking stuff I say the wrong way…I don't want her to get too…_cozy_, you know? I'm not ready for something like that…" Seedos shuffled around a bit.

"That doesn't mean you have to pretend she doesn't exist!" Storkos gave Seedos' shoulders a firm shake. "Look, little bro, would it kill you to at least be her friend? You two have a lot in common, and don't deny it; you can't always find me when you need someone to talk to."

"Well…if it will get you off my back…" Seedos gently shoved his sister's hands off of his shoulders. "I'll stop ignoring Leena, but I don't want any rumors starting about us!"

"It's a little late for that…" Storkos looked a bit guilty.

"What was that?" Seedos raised an eyebrow at her.

"Nothing important, I'm just glad you came to your senses, bro!" Storkos enveloped her brother one of her infamous bone-crushing hugs before starting for the door. She gave him a quick salute. "Leena will be really happy!"

"Yeah, but she can forget about being my girlfriend," Seedos waved Storkos off.

"If you say so, Seedos!" Storkos laughed and flew off.

Seedos shook his head and shut the door behind his sister.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

After pacing around his house for what seemed like several hours, Seedos glanced at his front door for the first time since he had shut it after Storkos' visit. No, no, no, no, no, no, NO, he wasn't ready to face _Leena_ yet. What if he upset her a lot more than he thought and she wound up crying all over the place? Seedos wouldn't know what to do if a girl cried in front of him, ESPECIALLY if it was because of something he said! The last thing he needed plaguing his mind was guilt. He needed to stay focused on his career, on his seeds, not over the guilt of making a girl cry. UGH, why were women so COMPLICATED?!?!

Seedos let out a looooooong sigh and plonked back down on his couch, lifting up his mask to rub his temples, eyes shut and teeth grinding together. Agh, he could feel a migraine coming on. Just _perfect._

After Storkos had exited Seedos' house, she had shot Leena a wink and a thumbs up before soaring off towards Egg Mountain. Leena couldn't help beaming at the superheroine until she flew out of sight. She had a feeling things were going to be just fine.

She paced around her garden, the local quirky seed merchant on her mind, her confidence increasingly greatly when she remembered what he had said to her the other day.

Once Leena had gotten over the great, great embarrassment of seeing Seedos barefaced, he had told her that he preferred her the way she was before she let Leafos glitz her out. Even if he had said for her not to take that compliment the wrong way, it still made her heartbeat increase to nearly chest bursting speeds. Whether his intentions were romantic or platonic, Seedos preferred plain old regular Leena. He wasn't like Eddie Lizard, who Leena often caught wincing as he gave whatever outfit she threw on in the morning a once over. He wasn't like Petula, who always whispered intentionally loudly about how dorky Leena's frizzy bob was to whoever would listen whenever Leena just so happened to be walking by. He wasn't like any other Villager who just saw her as a plain girl who was far too clumsy and scatterbrained to garden, shaking their heads as they walked past her plot of land. Those facts made Leena sure, absolutely sure, that she was ready to confess as soon as possible.

Leena sat down in the grass, stroking the petals of a bluebell absent-mindedly, trying to think of exactly the right words to say.

_"Um…Seedos…I…well…you see…I…my feelings for…well…you…they're…well…"_

Leena let out a small cry of distress, burying her face in her hands. God, even her _thoughts_ were dithery! This was going to be much harder than she thought…if it wasn't for Storkos giving Leena such a confident look before taking off for home, Leena wouldn't be willing to take such a risk. She was about to try to come up with a confession that didn't involve the words "um," "er," or "well" when she suddenly heard a familiar, slightly nasal voice behind her.

"Leena…um…do you have a minute?"

Leena was so startled that she pulled the bluebell she was stroking out of the ground. She looked over her shoulder and found herself face-to-mask with the very person she needed quite a bit more rehearsal to speak to. Her confidence faded a bit, she wasn't ready to face him yet! She had to stall him, buy herself more time to think…!

"S…Seedos! You're back! Did…did you forget something? Did I…um…miss finding one of the seeds that you dropped? I'm sorry if I did…um…" Leena sprang to her feet and snapped her gaze down to the ground, her eyes scanning the grass like very large blue spotlights.

"No, no, it's not that, I already counted them, they're all there," Seedos flicked his wrist dismissively. "I just…have something to tell you. I'm sorry about how I acted earlier…" He shoved one hand into his pocket and the other into his red pouch, instantly covering his right hand in pricks from the weed seeds. He winced, but there were much more important matters to discuss.

"R…really?" Leena straightened up and made eye contact with Seedos, letting the uprooted bluebell drop to the ground. "I have something to…um…tell you too…"

Seedos let out a small sigh; he had an idea what that "something" was. "I'm not quite done, but I suppose I could let you go first."

Leena felt her chest warm with confidence as she took a few steps forward towards Seedos. "Seedos…I…well…" It took everything in Leena's power to keep eye contact with Seedos. "I…want you to know that I…care about you. A lot."

This was exactly what Seedos feared would come out of Leena's mouth. It took everything in his power not to run away again, every muscle in his body tensing up with nervousness and his brain running rampant with confusion. Leena made a move to rest her hand on the side of Seedos' mask, but he snatched at her wrist before she got the chance.

"Look…Leena…I know how much you care about me…but…" Seedos averted his eyes away from Leena's for a brief moment, quickly releasing his grip on her wrist. "I really don't know how to respond to your feelings…I've had trouble trusting people ever since…well, you know what happened."

Every ounce of confidence rushed out of Leena's heart and she felt a little ill as her stomach twisted up. All she managed to say was a small "Oh…"

"I'm not saying I don't want anything at all to do with you, Leena," Seedos shook his head and turned his gaze towards Leena again. "I want to be your friend. You're the closest thing I've had to a friend for a long, long time."

"I…um…I think I can be…um…happy with that for the time being…" Leena couldn't help but feel a tiny bit grateful. Sure, her heart was in a million broken pieces on the ground…but she had no idea what the future held! Maybe, someday Seedos would help her piece her heart back together, much like how she helped him mend his broken mask.

Seedos couldn't help slightly smiling his infamous lopsided smile. He still had second thoughts about being able to trust this girl…but she was probably the least likely person on the Island to cause him any problems. Much to both Leena's surprise and his own, he wound up pulling her into a stiff hug that was all elbows. He meant for it to be a quick, friendly one, but Leena hung on to him much longer than he would have liked.

"Just send me an Alert whenever you need help with your garden, okay?" After Leena released him, Seedos looked down at the bluebell that Leena discarded a few minutes before. "We can't have things like this happening to your plants." He grimaced.

Leena blushed profusely. "Um…okay…thank you…you have no idea how much what you're doing means to me…"

"I have _some_ idea, believe me," Seedos shook his head a bit, but Leena noticed that the corners of the mouth of his mask had turned up slightly. He began making his way back towards his swamp, but he paused once he reached the bridge. He glanced back at Leena over his shoulder and gave her a proper wave goodbye rather than his usual quick, dismissive, wrist flick.

Leena's heart couldn't decide whether to swell or drop down into her stomach. She sighed and sat down on a tree stump, burying her face in her hands. She was getting ready to sort her thoughts and feelings into place as best she could when her plans were interrupted by another familiar voice from behind her.

"…Leena, are you okay…?"


End file.
